Sake isn’t really wine, it’s a brewed beverage, said Henry Sidel, uber premium sake importer and educator, “you have to take off your wine hat.”  Sidel, President of Joto Sake based in NYC, was in the Bay Area to give a couple of sake presentations at the Culinary Institute of America’s annual Worlds of Flavor event this past weekend.  This afficionado is so meticulous about quality that he only represents eight artisanal producers, who together represent 16 generations and over 1,500 years of production of this ancient Japanese beverage.  Sidel …

How does one pair Madeira with savory foods?  It is a sweet fortified wine that doesn’t appear on the face of it to go well with foods.   What does make it suitable for food is the characteristic high acidity that other fortified wines like Sherry – with its low to moderate acidity - and even Port with its balanced acidity, do not have.  Also, while even “dry” Madeira has some residual sugar, they always finish dry.  Another factor that ties Madeira to a range of interesting cuisines is the range of complex flavors.  While …

At the Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair, Mr. Nelson Chow, Chairman of the Hong Kong Sommelier Association, gave an asian food and wine pairing from the perspective of the ethnic Chinese in Hong Kong and China.  Food and wine pairing cannot be approached the same way it is done in western cultures where the dishes come separately and where there may only be one main dish.  As many of you may have noticed from dining in authentic Chinese restaurants in the U.S., many of the tables will have lazy susans …

Braised abalone at the judging session

During the International Wine & Spirits Fair here in Hong Kong, there were interesting food and wine pairing events, one under the Cathay Pacific - sponsored Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Competition (IWSC), and the other a seminar given by Mr. Nelson Chow, chairman of the Hong Kong Sommelier Association.  We hear so much here in the U.S. on asian/asian fusion food and wine pairing, so I looked forward to hearing from the locals themselves what combinations they thought works.
At the IWSC, the goal was to find the …