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When it comes to food & wine matching, you may first come up with the familiar rule of “Red wine goes with red meat, white wine goes with white meat”. Actually, wines can go perfectly well with cuisine of the same origin. For example, our favorite Italian dishes like Pizza, Spaghetti Bolognese and Cheese Platter, are the perfect match with Italian wines such as Brunello and Prosecco. Let’s check out some ideas of Italian food and wine pairings!
1. Tomato sauce based dishes （e.g. Pizza / Spaghetti Bolognese)
Talking about the essence of Italian cuisine, the sweet and sour tomato sauce must appear on the list! The combination of tomato sauce with basil, olive oil, parmesan cheese and garlic gives you the perfect palette to pair with Sangiovese-based red wines such as Brunello. Usually Brunello has brilliant acidity, preserved sour cherry or spicy flowers, coupled with moderate tannin. Thus, Brunello pair well with the acidity in tomato-sauced dishes, while cutting through the oiliness of dishes. So, next time when enjoying popular party Italian food such as Spaghetti Bolognese and Pizza with the creamy cheese and tomato sauce, why not try Brunello?
2. Meat-based pizzas
Italian sausage is one of the hottest local ingredients. Dishes made with rich-flavoured sausages work wonderfully with Super Tuscans － red wines with distinctive spicy and peppery notes. Therefore, besides tomato sauce based pizza, meat-based pizzas are also very popular. Meat-based pizzas especially if wood-fired, can highlight the complex flavours in the wine.
3. Cheese Platter
Italians are proud of their cheese quality, and their cheese platters are world-famous. However, different types of cheese need to be carefully paired with different wines. For soft-fresh cheeses like Mozzarella, dry and floral whites such as Moscato d’Asti or Prosecco would be perfect; semi-hard, medium-aged cheeses go with medium-bodied and fruity reds like Chianti; hard, aged cheeses go well with full-bodied and tannic reds including Barbaresco, Barolo and Amarone.
4. Parma Ham
Salty yet meaty Parma Ham is from Italy, many people in Hong Kong love the melt-in-the-mouth slices of Parma Ham as antipasto. And in Italy, Prosecco is usually the happy hour or pre-dinner drink. Since most of the Proseccos have brilliant acidity with refreshing notes of lemon, pear and minerals, which is very appetizing! Prosecco goes well with antipastos such as Parma Ham, cutting through the oiliness of dishes.
5. Piedmont’s White Truffle Risotto
Hailed as “The White Diamonds of the Kitchen”, white truffle mainly originates in Italy, in which Piedmont’s truffle earn the highest acclaims. Cooked with risotto, it could be the most delicious dish. There is a famous Western aphorism “What grows together, goes together”. The white truffles of Piedmont are the ideal match for the mighty Barolo and Barbaresco wines, both borne from the Nebbiolo grape, a signature of the region.