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Albany, NY – In today's Academic Minute, Dr. Fred Caporaso of Chapman University explains the science behind a great food and wine pairing.
Fred Caporaso is a professor of food science in the Schmid College of Science at Chapman University in Orange, California. He has 35 years of experience as a sensory scientist and has published in top peer reviewed journals and served as an expert witness in sensory testing litigation. Caporaso has also appeared as an expert on the hit television show Myth Busters. He holds a Ph.D. from Penn State University.
Dr. Fred Caporaso - Food and Wine
Our sensory approach to how paring different food with different wine affects the perception of the wine. We call this the yin and the yang of wine paring. Man is capable of perceiving five tastes - sweet, salyt, sour, bitter, and umami.
In wines, human beings taste sweet or not sweet (dry); and acidity or sourness. An odor or aroma of a wine is a single, identifiable smell in the wine, such as cinnamon, lemon, butter, oak, vanilla, or spice. The tannins in grapes and wine create an ASTRINGENT sensation in the mouth. This is a tactile sensation, not a taste.
You don't have to settle for the taste of the wine. You can adjust your perception of the wine by the addition of a sweet or a sour taste in your food. From a scientific perspective, what happens inside your mouth and nose areas is shaped by the combinations of the different sensations. Odors enter through our nose and travel to the retronasal passage. Aromatics enter through our mouth and tongue as odorant molecules. The Trigeminal Nervous System processes this information in our brains, which makes us experience tactile sensations such as spicy heat, temperature, astringency and umami.
Sweetness and fruitiness are the MILD characteristics in wine. Acidity and astringency are the STRONG characteristics in wine. A sweet or a savory taste in food makes the wine taste stronger taste an apple with a white zinfandel. A salty or sour taste in food makes wine taste milder - taste a slice of lime with salt on it, then taste a cabernet sauvignon. It's not what's on the plate; it's what's on the food that's on the plate. In summary; the principles of Wine and Food in Balance provide the platform for creating great tasting food that is delicious with your favorite wine.