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There is nothing better than combining your favorite food with wine when it creates an exceptional craving taste and a great experience. If you are planning on having cured meats, it might be the perfect opportunity to try different cured meat and wine pairings.
The combination offers buttery deliciousness and texture of meat with the refreshing spininess of wine. The smoky touch to these cured meats also offers a unique experience. However, it is important to note that pairing the right type of wine with the correct cured meat will further enhance your experience.
So, below is our complete guide for cured meat and wine pairings.
What are cured meats?
Cured meats are meats that go through the flavoring and preservation processes. These meats usually include beef, lamb, pork, chicken, turkey, fish, etc. During the preparation process, the main goal is to dehydrate as much as possible to prevent organism growth in meat, and flavoring is also one of the goals. Thus, we achieve a slice of meat that is drier, flakier, and chewy than regular meat.
How do these usually taste
The major taste factor in the cured meats comes from their seasonings using the preparation process. Some common types of cured meat taste include smokiness, sweetness, bitterness, spiciness, or sourness.
How do you decide on your cured meat and wine pairings?
Cured meats are available in different forms, and you can make your charcuterie board with all different options. It means that you will use different types of cured meat with different flavors. So, you need to be a little careful when pairing things up and below are a few important things to consider when pairing your cured meat with wine.
Start with looking out for fat and salt.
The first thing you need to consider is the salt content of the meats along with fat. These affect the taste of meat, and you can easily pair these up with a wrong wing. Similarly, when you pick up wine, you need to check its freshness. While the salt in meat makes it a bit bitter, it also softens the acidity in wine.
So, with higher salt contents, you can choose wines with more acidity to balance things out. The fat in meat plays an important role in bringing the taste and acidity of wine that can cut through fats.
Going with an acidic wine with citrus will not only develop a better flavor but enhance the previous flavor of the meat as well. Thus, Champagne makes a great pick to pair with cured meats.
Different flavors you need to consider
As cured meats come with different flavors, you need to see what flavor you have. For something spicier, you can choose a wine like Beaujolais that will offer a juicy taste with a light wine. Similarly, if your cured meats come with a more aromatic feel, you can pair them with stronger wines like the spicy reds.
Is there anything you need to avoid?
There are a few things that you need to avoid as well because they can create a clash between the taste of meat and wine. Thus, you will enjoy the presence of neither. Go for wines that are easier to understand and pair with meat.
Selecting something too strong, grassy, or complex to understand will not be efficient in pairing up with cured meats. It is because the flavors will struggle to pair up, and the wine may overpower the flavors of your cured meats.
Tips for efficient cured meat and wine pairings
Tips make things easier for you, and when you consider pairing your cured meats with wine, there is a general rule that says to pair up wine with meat where wine must be more acidic than the meat. In this way, wine soothes the taste of the meat without overpowering it.
At the same time, you can enjoy the taste and discrete characteristics of the wine. Apart from this one, there are a few more tips to follow, which are:
- It would help if you considered the flavor of both the wine and the meat before pairing them up.
- The high alcohol content in wine will increase the spice in your cured meats. Similarly, the low alcohol content will reduce the spice in your cured meats.
- The red wine can be paired with any cured meat, and most people will love the combination.
- A strong wine is a good choice if the meat has a deeper flavor.
- If you have spicy cured meat and want to lower the heat, pair it with a lighter and sweeter wine.
Additionally, you can always pair up cured meat and wine that taste alike, meaning earthy and acidic ones go together. This way, the cured meat, and wine will complement one another.
Make your life easier with the all-rounder wines.
Did you know that some all-rounder wines can help you through the selection process? Going with these is especially helpful when you have many different meat types on the plate. A few common names here include a Light Loire Red, a Lambrusco, or an Anjou.
These will pair up with different types of cured meat without overpowering the original flavor. These are light, have bubbles, and are fruity in taste. If you want to try more options, then going with Valpolicella or Amarone will also be feasible. The best part about trying these wines is that they easily pair up with several types of meat and everyone easily accepts these.
Conclusion
The right cured meat and wine pairings can turn any boring dinner into an exotic one. There are some all-rounder options, but if you want to take your experience to the next level, you must work on the taste of cured meat and select the wine to take along. Doing so will ensure that you get the perfect great taste with every type of cured meat.
One very important thing to always remember is that you are never bound to certain options only. So, always go for experiments if you feel like some cured meat and wine pairings will taste better than the ones you have been trying.
Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay
