Tips on Pairing French Wines with Latin Food

Miami-based chef Doreen Colondres, whose website The Kitchen Doesn’t Bite and daily cooking  segments on Fox’s Utilisma Network have made her a star in the Latin food  sphere, has teamed up with the Bordeaux  Wine Council to create a recipe guide that pairs Latin flavors with  French wines.

Titled Viva  Bordeaux, the guide shines a light on the reciprocal relationship  between the food and wine history of the Bordeaux region and the influences –  among them Basque and Spanish – that have shaped it.

“The main goal,” says Colondres, “is to educate people about the Bordeaux  region and how its wines complement Latin food.”

To achieve this, Colondres, who is also a sommelier, created five unique  Latin recipes and assigned each a Bordeaux wine pairing: mini arepas  with avocado and aji amarillo tuna tartare are paired with a white  Bordeaux whose citrus and herbal notes are highlighted by the dishes’ sweetness;  bife de chorizo with mashed plantains and cilantro gremolata is paired  with an elegant Margaux; and sweet plantain, banana and rum  quesillo – a creamier version of flan thanks to the recipe’s use  of fresh milk and milk powder in lieu of evaporated milk – is paired with a 2010  Barton and Guestier Passeport Sauterne. The latter’s well-balanced acid provides  the perfect counterpoint to the sweetness of the quesillo.

When asked why the idea that Latin food is best with beer and margaritas continues to persist, Colondres acknowledges that some Latin dishes are, in fact, ideally suited to beer or margaritas. She adds, however, that pairing preferences vary as much within Latin countries as they do elsewhere, with some nationalities tending towards beer, others towards wine, and still others towards regionally produced drinks like pisco in Peru and mezcal in Mexico. She also says she has noticed a recent trend towards respecting and trying new ingredients and flavor profiles and less familiar food and drinks

 View the full story on TheLatinKitchen.com.