Posted: 9/19/2007 6:57:07 PM EDT
Ew. That is all. Kitties |
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Not gettin' it. Chili good.....wine good. Where's the disconnect? Unless you mean wine in your chili. Probably not the best combo. My chili has leftover brisket or other smoked meats for the base. Tomato's, spices, time and a lotta love. Now that the weather is cool....I'm dying to do up a big batch of chili. Nothing like snackin' on chili and other finger foods and watching some football. 
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Anything that's tomato based and spicy is notoriously difficult to match with wine. Because the tomatoes are acidic, they tend to amplify the acids and tannins in wine, and the combination tends to just be gross. I hadn't actually tried chili and wine until last night. I knew it wouldn't be good, but I figured maybe I could pair a sweeter wine with it. Nope. At least nothing I have in my cabinet.  Chili is good and wine is good, but they are NOT good together--at least not that I can find. I guess it's more of a beer kind of food.....????
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I haven't been able to successfully combine wine with chili or anything like it, nor have I been able to combine it with fresh sliced tomatoes--or fresh chopped tomatoes in salad/etc. Tomatoes and the acid therein are just problematic with wine.   I stole the June issue of Wine Enthusiast from my local wine guy (I promised to bring it back) because it has an article on "difficult foods to combine with wine." Haven't had time to read it, but it looks interesting. Artichokes was one of the ones they mentioned in one of the cutlines. Don't eat a lot of artichokes, but I can imagine the tannins being about like the acid in chili when combined with wine. Ew. Some spicy foods will work well with a sweet wine--go opposite the dish--and it seems to be good that way. But I have not found a good wine with spicy tomato based dishes. Italian foods have enough cheese, usually, to offset the acid and will work with wine. But Mexican or Indian foods--not there yet. Kitties |
I've never found Italian foods with tomato based sauces that hard to pair with red wines. But I think it's because although the tomatoes are acidic, they also have a natural sweetness to them as well. I believe that the garlic, basil, parsley, oregano, and salt, lessen the acidity while the sauce simmers as well. That's especially true with a Ragu (meat sauce). And there's also the cheese component as you mentioned. Now a Fra Diavolo sauce is another story. That's too spicy hot for red wine pairing IMHO. Although a nice Lemonchella tastes great afterwards...  Mexican food or Spanish foods just don't pair well with red wines IMO. I guess that's why there's Sangria...which I personally, am not very fond of. |
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Come to the Chile & Wine Fiesta in Santa Flake next week . . . . Santa Fe Chile & Wine Fiesta |