perfectmatch
vendors in the city sold saltcured belly lox from pushcarts.
Tomato, Basil, and Mozzarella (Caprese Salad)
Culinary Combinations, Finding that Perfect Match
Consumer palates have evolved to eat much more adventurously, with unexpected ingredient combinations becoming the new norm. For chefs this presents an exciting new challenge and a whole world of creative opportunities for brand new ideas as well as modern twists on some of the classics. Of course, a traditional way to heighten the dining experience is to pair food with wine. In many cultures, wine has had a long history of being a staple at the dinner table and in some ways both the winemaking and culinary traditions of a region will have evolved together over the years. This presents a great opportunity to tell a story through a selection of carefully paired dishes with their wine counterparts. Guests are going to order a drink with their meal regardless, so making a drink suggestion to go with their dish of choice will feel natural to the guest. What’s more, 85 percent of guests say they appreciate a team member recommending drinks that complement their food.
THE HISTORY BEHIND CLASSIC FOOD PAIRINGS There are some flavours that seem destined to go together. Here are some of the most classic flavour combinations and how they came about.
Chocolate and Peanut Butter • When you think of flavour
pairings, this is definitely one of the first ones to come to mind. This combination came about in 1917 in Pennsylvania when Harry Burnett Reese started working for the Hershey factory to support his family. After his success at the factory, he began to sell his own confections, including a treat with this combination as the star.
Salmon and Cream Cheese Bagel
• In American Jewish cuisine, a bagel and cream cheese is sometimes called a “whole schmear” or “whole schmeer”. A “lox and schmear” is a bagel
with cream cheese and smoked salmon. The lox and schmear likely originated in New York City around the time of the turn of the 20th century, when street
• Caprese salad is a simple Italian salad, made of sliced fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and sweet basil, seasoned with salt, and olive oil. Like pizza Margherita, it features the colours of the Italian flag: green, white, and red. The salad is named after the island of Capri, where it is believed to have originated. Two common stories about its origin include it being an homage to the Italian flag or created in the 20th century to appease the palates of vacationing royalty and important politicos.
Strawberries and Cream • The wild strawberry goes all the way back to the Roman times. It was a symbol of the goddess Venus (goddess of love) and was prized for its medicinal uses. It is said that the winning combination of strawberries and cream was introduced by Thomas Wolsey, a right hand man to King Henry VIII. It is believed that he served this dish at a lavish banquet in 1509. It was then served to spectators of tennis matches (at a court in Thomas’ palace) and the perfect snack was born. August 2021
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