Perfect Pairings. Evan Goldstein

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       WINE AND FOOD PAIRING

       INGREDIENTS AND STYLES

      First off, it is easy to “lose” Chardonnay behind food. Chardonnay's personality and flavors can be easily dominated by dishes that are too rich, strong, or bold for its forward yet subtle personality. Chardonnay is best matched with foods that are enhanced by its round, full, and often silky character. Various shellfish (lobster, scallops, prawns, and shrimp) are classic and time-honored table partners, especially when accompanied by a rich sauce: drawn butter or a modification of a cream or butter sauce. The same is true for milder poultry (chicken, quail, and turkey), white meat (veal and pork), fish (halibut, trout, and swordfish), and other meats (sweetbreads and rabbit). Pastas, risotto, and other starches (winter squash and polenta) provide a great textural backdrop for many Chardonnays when paired with compatible food ingredients.

      The cuisines of Hawaii and South Florida, with their reliance on tropical tastes, are particularly well suited to young fruit-forward Chardonnays, such as those coming from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Nuevo Latino cooking, with its myriad sources of sweet and implied sweet ingredients, is another great partner for many similar Chardonnays and for the Chardonnays from Chile and Argentina.

       METHODS OF COOKING

      As so many Chardonnays spend some time in the barrel, knowing how to play off the wood or oak aging is useful. Try oak-aged Chardonnays with lightly smoked or grilled dishes and those with traits similar to those imparted by the oak: sweet spices, toast, caramel, and vanilla. It is said that the acclaimed French chef Alain Senderens developed his globally renowned lobster in vanilla sauce specifically to match the countless white Burgundies served in his former restaurant, L'Archestrate. If the Chardonnay you have selected is influenced by malolactic fermentation (that is, it has a buttery or buttered-popcorn aroma and flavor), attempt to match that core personality by sauteing or poaching with butter or incorporating butter into the dish. The use of nut oils can pick up nicely on the toasted and nutty oak characters of many a Chardonnay, and you can also add raw nuts to a dish as a last-minute ingredient rather than cooking with them. I prefer to toast the nuts first, both to preserve the texture and to echo those elements in the wine itself. Other methods of cooking that set the stage well for oak-aged Chardonnay are plank roasting, slow braising, and gentle stewing.

      Please remember that not all Chardonnays are created the same. Many European versions are more austere, stressing mineral and earth components: these wines are less overtly oaky and show best with simple and clean flavors in food. Good choices here would be a roast chicken with garlic or a sautéed snapper served simply or with a tart sauce or a wedge of lemon. These styles of Chardonnay are also exceptional at diminishing the richness of thick-textured dishes and counterbalancing sauces based on cream, butter, emulsification, or reduction.

      Finally, if the wine is aged and shows more developed Chardonnay flavors (almond, hazelnut, sherry, and dried fruit), it's best to keep the food as neutral as possible or, again, attempt to mirror the flavor profile of the wine. Using nuts (as a coating, as an ingredient, or in powdered form as a thickening agent) or drizzling on a nut oil is almost always a slam dunk. Because the acidity of the Chardonnay will be mitigated by age, its effectiveness in cutting the richness of a heavy dish is lessened. Dishes such as Chinese prawns with cashews, macadamia-crusted fried chicken, and fillet of sole amandine are good options for pairing with a developed Chardonnay.

       PAIRING POINTERS

       Chardonnay works well:

      • With dishes that have rich textures and flavors, especially if the Chardonnay has texture (as from oak aging or lees stirring).

      • To counterbalance rich dishes by “cutting” richness with higher acidity (especially unoaked, cooler-climate examples).

      • With most mild and sweet shellfish, including lobster, prawns, shrimp, and steamer clams; but choose unoaked types when matching with mussels and most oysters.

      • With butter, cream, melted cheeses, and anything adding coarse texture (such as white beans, macaroni, polenta, or grits).

      • With many sweet spices, which mirror the flavors derived from oak barrels, including nutmeg, cinnamon, five-spice powder, and dried ginger.

      • With nuts, and recipes incorporating nuts. As an inherent flavor characteristic of Chardonnay, nuts of various kinds, and especially toasted nuts, are sublime, especially with aged and older, developed wines.

      • With milder white mushrooms (standard button mushrooms, chanterelles, shiitakes, oyster mushrooms, etc.), especially when they are sautéed with butter. Other textured and mild ingredients are also great platforms for Chardonnay, including avocado and squash.

      • With onions and garlic; served with earthy Old World examples (such as those from Burgundy or northern Italy), these pick up on the wine's terroir.

       Chardonnay doesn't work:

      • If it is too oaky to match with food. If you are serving a rich and oaky Chardonnay, play to it with ingredients that mirror the flavors of the wine or, better still, with cooking methods that match well with the oak (such as grilling and smoking).

      • In showing off hot or spicy dishes. The explosion of capsaicins, the heat-invoking elements in chiles, blows out the subtlety while accentuating the oak and the alcohol in the wine.

      • With very sharp ingredients. Most oak-aged Chardonnay is diminished when paired with items such as leeks, olives, asparagus, capers, zucchini, tomatoes, and broccoli rabe. Unoaked and sharper examples, however, can be brilliant.

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