+- WineBoard (https://www.wines.com/wineboard)
+-- Forum: GENERAL (https://www.wines.com/wineboard/forum-100.html)
+--- Forum: Wine/Food Affinities (https://www.wines.com/wineboard/forum-4.html)
+--- Thread: Help! Soul Food + Wine! (/thread-529.html)
- Jeff - 11-16-1999
Here is a challenge for all you wine experts:
My family just got invited to a dinner party with the theme of: SOUL FOOD. Everyone attending will be bringing some sort of 'soul food' dish...
We were given the task of bringing the wine... The question for you:
What kind of wines would go good with soul food? Would it just be something that goes good with southern fried chicken? HELP!
- Thomas - 11-16-1999
Gee, not much to go on for those of us who aren't into soul food, but my guess is that you should stay on the safe side and bring fruity, perhaps off dry (on the sweet side) wines like White Zinfandel, Riesling, Frascati, Vouvray, Semillon from Australia (look for Semillon-Chardonnay blends. They can be nice and fruity).
- Jerry D Mead - 11-17-1999
...and maybe some Pinot Noir (Gallo Sonoma is a good value)to go with the chittlin's, hog jowl, ears and hog snout (all traditional New Years soul food delicacies)along with black-eyed peas and dirty rice.
- Randy Caparoso - 11-17-1999
Here's the way I look at it, folks, based upon my occasional revels in New Orleans (down home Creole cooking is some of my favorite in the world!). To me, soul food does indeed involve a lot of fat and frying. So my favorite all purpose wines are soft, smooth, but slightly acidic edged reds like Chianti Classico (or California Sangioveses) and Zinfandel. Lower acid reds (like Merlot and Cabernet) just don't do the trick. Pinot Noir, on the other hand, does tend to be crisp edged; but it's also a little refined for this style of cooking (like wearing a tux to a beach party).
By the same token, slightly acidic whites like Riesling help mop up some of that fat. Sauvignon, or Fume, Blanc is a little acidic, but I find it to be a little dry for lots of fried food. Fruity tasting Riesling seems to be more effective at freshening up the palate. Makes sense?
- Thomas - 11-17-1999
Hey Randy, ever notice how often we recommend Riesling with various foods. Such a marvelously versatile grape variety.
Also, I did not know that Creole (New Orleans) cooking is soul food. I thought soul food was the stuff of rural black Americans in the South. Has there been some crossover?
- Jeff - 11-17-1999
Where can I get more information on this Riesling wine? Is it readily available? Where can I find it? How much (American dollars)?
It is my understanding that soul food not only covers the southern states, but also Jamaica and the Caribbean.
- Randy Caparoso - 11-17-1999
Foodie, Creole is very much full of soul -- evolved from the cooking of the people of New Orleans, with their French, Spanish, African and native American influences. Although the word Creole itself originally refers to descendents of colonizers, over time it has become synonymous with mixed lineage blacks, who more than any one group -- since they most of the cooking (for themselves and in the kitchens of wealthier folks) -- defined the characteristics of Creole food. Hence, the "soul" connection -- file, okra, pan fried meats, kale, collard greens, et al.
- RickBin389 - 11-17-1999
good call Randy, and correct as well. I have had the pleasure of working with a "Coonass" (that's what they call themselves, not sure on the spelling). Cass Mitchell, he was my exec-sous in Atlanta, the best pure cook i've ever seen. Absolutely fearless.
A mixture of adrican/american, portugese & french , if my memory serves me. We could hardly understand a word he said - but at 6-6 365, we pretended to.........
- Thomas - 11-17-1999
Re, more information on Riesling: it is the name of a grape variety grown widely in Germany, Alsace, the Finger Lakes of NY and also Washington State (California too, but only a few Riesling wines from there are of any note, in my humble opinion).
Depends on where you live and what your shopping experience is, but you can generally find German and Washington Rieslings across the U.S., most from the latter tend toward the insipid (again, a humble opinion) so look for German. Talk to your merchant about the foods and that you want a fruity, not sweet Riesling.
If you are on the East Coast you might luckily have access to NY Finger Lakes Riesling, the overall best region in the U.S. for this grape (no humility there). If you can get them, try Prejean (a cajun family connection, and their wines are sold in Louisiana for that reason alone, but their Rieslings are superior) Glenora, Fox Run, Vinifera Wine Cellars and Hermann Wiemer.