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[W851]Wine & Food Pairing

by Denise Clarke, Den

A typical heurigen is marked by pine boughs over the door and has large wooden picnic tables and benches. Many of them have seating outside in courtyard gardens?.usually, they have a wonderful view. Visitors seat themselves and order their wine at the table from a passing server. After a few glasses of wine, visitors then head up to buffet counter to get their food and bring it back to the table. Potato salads, pickled vegetables and smoked meats account for most of the tasty offerings at the counter, but they will make you a fresh schnitzel or fried chicken.

One of my favorite wines to order is Zweigelt. It comes from the red wine territory of Burgenland in eastern Austria, south of Vienna and along the border with Hungary. Zweigelt is a new grape on the wine scene, developed in 1922 by Fritz Zweigelt, an Austrian scientist. Originally called rotburger, the name was changed to honor its creator.

Zweigelt reminds me a of a spicy Beaujolais and has a freshness that goes great with a wide range of foods including a traditional schnitzel, which is a meat cutlet, pounded thin, usually breaded and saut'ed. It can be made with veal, pork or turkey and you can have it plain or with a variety of sauces?.YUM! Another one of my favorites to pair with Zweigelt is gulasch. This is a Hungarian influenced stew that is usually so highly spiced with paprika that it makes my eyebrows sweat! Many times the stew has potatoes or noodles in it, but I like it best when it is served with a kn?del, which is an Austrian bread dumpling. A tip I learned from a local Weiner, is a hangover treatment?..gulasch with a fried egg on top and served with dill pickles of the side?.of course that has to be paired with a beer?..believe me it works! I've even served it to my friends in the US who have imbibed a bit too much the night before!

Wine Food Pairing requires a lot of diligence and practice?..in fact I practiced way too much last time I was in Europe and gained five pounds! Next time I go to Austria I will have to find a low cal dish to pair with my favorite Zweigelt??that is indeed, the adventure and challenge of Wine Food Pairing! CHEERS!

I am famous for my All American potato salad?.at least with my friends and neighbors, and of course that's all that matters. I have even lined up friends at my kitchen counter and given lessons?.some of them actually wrote down what I said?even though I really don't have exact measurements or anything?.mostly, I do it by taste?..trial and error.

To start off, I begin by opening a family sized (1.5 liter) bottle of Cavit Pinot Grigio from Italy. I take down my favorite Tervis tumblers with the saying "It's 5 o'clock Somewhere" embroidered on the front. To these I add ice??fill tumbler half with the delightful Pinot and then top off with sparkling mineral water??..NOW, with spritzer in hand I can begin the prep for the potato salad.

I like to use Idaho baking potatoes?.I know they tend to fall apart a bit when you boil them, but they absorb all the wonderful flavors so nicely that I use them anyway. I usually boil about 8 medium sized potatoes and then while I'm steaming up the kitchen I also hard boil half dozen eggs. While these are cooking I go to the chopping board and dice up my green onions/scallions and celery for a bit of crunch?.these all go in my super king-sized metal bowl to wait for the rest of the goodies.

In another bowl I mix up my dressing?..lot's (maybe a cup or more) of miracle whip light and at least half of a jar of pickled sweet relish??.several dashes of Jane's Crazy Salt and paprika (the sweet kind, not the eyebrow sweating Hungarian kind!) Did I forget to mention the special Austrian mustard that I bring over once a year? It comes in a tube and has the word Senf on the front'I think that means mustard in German??.anyway, add a goodly squeeze of that!

OK, the potatoes are now cooked, drained, cooled, peeled and diced and the eggs are peeled and chopped (actually I have one of those egg slicer deals that work great). This takes about two spritzer's worth of time. Now we are ready to combine! Put everything together in the king sized bowl and mix with a large spoon?..I use my Mom's old wooden spoon that she got from her Dad?..it is about eighty years old and I think that this is why the salad always turns out so good, but I may be wrong!

Now we enter into the trial and error portion of the prep?.I call it tasting and tweaking?.I believe it is self explanatory. When it tastes great?.STOP! Refrigerate and let the flavors marry?.YUM!

I like to fire up the grill about now?? I am on spritzer number three??more mineral water than wine ?.I must pace myself?..and bring out the brats (those are sausage, not naughty children) to go on the barbie. I have already boiled these guys in beer for about fifteen minutes to take the edge off and placed them in a Ziploc with a touch of extra virgin olive oil and a few dashes of Italian seasoning to marinade. The barbeque is hot and I call my husband (of course I could do it myself, but I am a princess and he grills much better than I). The cook always needs a beverage and usually it is a spritzer, also?.because grilling is HOT work'at least that what he tells me!

The food is ready, the Pinot Grigio is on the table along with the sparkling water and another Wine Food Pairing has begun?.or maybe it is ending! CHEERS!

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Denise Clarke has sinced written about articles on various topics from Wine and Spirits, Wine and Spirits and Family Travel. Denise Clarke has been passionate about wine food pairing for many years...to follow her blog go to:http://www.winefoodpairing.blogspot.comor to her website at:http://www.wine-food-pairing.com. Denise Clarke's top article generates over 12100 views. to your Favourites.