KAAS EN WIJN: DRIE MYTHES
CHESE AND WINE: THREE MYTHS
Dat een licentiaatsverhandeling de wereldpers haalt gebeurt niet vaak. Dat was wel het feit met die van Berenice Madrigal van de UC of Davis (California). In een wetenschappelijk experiment uitgevoerd volgens de regels van de kunst, o.l.v. prof. Hildegarde Heymann van de oenologiefaculteit van California, komt ze tot de conclusie dat rode wijn en kaas in "pairings" elkaar weinig bijbrengen en de kaas zelfs de wijn verdringt. Meteen besloten velen - waaronder journalist Cornelis Heystek in Lekkerwijntje - dat "Rode wijn en kaas niet samengaan", iets wat hij "al altijd verkondigd had". Ho, ho, dachten we. Wat wordt hier bewezen? Nemen we eerst de gebruikte definitie voor een "goede pairing": "Our definition of a good pairing was that the two enhance each other," En de genuanceerde conclusie luidt: "Our work shows this is probably not true very often." In het experiment ging het wel om rode wijnen van 4 monocepages -
Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot en Syrah (zoals ook wij altijd doen bij dat type proeverijen), variërend gekoppeld aan 8 paren kazen. De twee wijnen waren "one cheap, and one pricey". Over kwaliteit wordt (helaas) niets gezegd. Volgens het rapport was dit de selectie van de kazen: Drie maand lang testte een panel van 6 mannen en 5 vrouwen (studiegenoten) alle combinaties, en scoorde ze op 20 attributen. Ze werden vooraf uitvoerig getraind in het herkennen van 20 kenmerken van wijn, van peper en bes over zuur tot bitter. Basisvraag was telkens: in welke mate vind je dit kenmerk van de wijn nog aanwezig na het proeven van kaas + wijn? (Score/10) Het besluit na lange analyses is dat "in nagenoeg alle gevallen, de kaas de smaakkwaliteiten van de wijn verminderde". Het enige min of meer "positieve" effect was de verhoging van de boterigheid in de wijn. En allicht ook nog de vermindering van de bitter-component. Zegt prof. Heymann: "The decrease of astringency makes sense because you have a coating of the palate (with cheese)," ..." That is the one effect I would say is a real effect." Daarna maakt het syntheserapport een interessante opmerking: "The other outcomes -- that cheese diminished fruitiness, oakiness or spiciness -- may be what Heymann call(s) a cognitive effect. In other words, it's in our heads. We expect that result, so we find that result. Although she hasn't devised a way to tease apart the impact of cognition, or expectation, she suspects it's at the root of many vaunted wine-and-cheese marriages. " Een persoonlijke conclusie van student en prof: "My 'take home' is, you shouldn't worry about which wine you have with which cheese," . "Have the wine you love with the cheese you love." " If most cheeses affect most red wines in a similar way, by turning down the volume, it may be pointless to keep looking for a match that soars." Anders gezegd: het zit hem in het hoofd, neem je favoriete of een willekeurige rode wijn bij welke kaas ook.... Onze reactie? Eén: jammer dat geen witte wijnen werden uitgetest, en bij extensie zoet wit of zoet rood. Voor veel wijnschrijvers en proevers geldt het volgende: "rode wijn en kaas is out, witte wijn en kaas is in". In onze ervaring klopt dit maar ten dele. Twee: bij uitbreiding van de "geen kaas bij wijn"-stelling kan je zeggen: "geen spijs bij wijn". Een bekende kok reageerde als volgt: "bij marriages van spijzen onderling, of spijs en wijn, gaat het altijd om het zoeken naar een positief compromis: je levert wat in, maar je wint een flink stuk bij " Drie: in onze proefervaring met cursisten - zie de onderstaande tabellen - gaan sommige witte wijnen (bijvoorbeeld stevige chardonnay) met sommige kazen (bijvoorbeeld Gruyère of Comté ) heel goed samen, en sommige rode wijnen (bijvoorbeeld Syrah) met sommige andere types kazen (bij voorbeeld Oud Brugge of belegen Cheddar) evenzeer. En wij gingen voor de "pairing" van exact dezelfde definitie uit. Uiteindelijk zijn er drie mythes inzake het al of niet samengaan van kaas-wijn:
Zit het hem in het hoofd? Of in het hart? Dat moet je allicht aan onze cursisten vragen. Wat ze deden was dit: zij spraken - in één geval na blind proeven - gewoon hun ervaring uit. En in een aantal gevallen was de "kaas een echte verrijking voor de wijn én omgekeerd", en soms ook niet...
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A graduate student rarely reaches the world press with his or her thesis. Yet, that was the case with Berenice Madrigal of the oenolgoy Faculty of UC of Davis (Calfornia). In a strict scientific experiment, under the supervision of prof. Hildegard Heymann, she reached the conclusion that pairings of red wine and cheese do not enrich each other, and that the cheese lessens the qualities of the wine. Some press agents concluded: "wine and cheese is out" So did (almost) journalist Cornelis Heystek on the well-known Dutch site of Lekkerwijntje: "Red wine and cheese do not match", a thing he "had always proclaimed" Ho, ho, we thought. What is being proved here? We looked up several synthetic reports of the study. Let's begin with the working definition: "Our definition of a good pairing was that the two enhance each other," And this is the general prudent concludsion : "Our work shows this is probably not true very often." The study used pairs of red wines of 4 monocepages -
Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot en Syrah - a justified choice, which we also make in such excercises. The two wines were "one cheap, and one pricey". Nothing is said about the wines' quality - a fact to be deplored. The wines were combined with 8 pairs of cheeses: A panel of 6 men and 5 women (fellow students) were intensively trained in the recognition of 20 wine attributes, from bell pepper and berry to acid and bitter. They used a 10-point scale for scoring each attribute. Basic question in the tasting: to which degree do you recognize each of these attributes in the wine, after having tasted cheese and then wine? Conclusion after careful analysis: "In virtually every case, cheese diminished everything the wine had to say. It muted both desirable traits like berry character and less desirable traits like astringency and bell pepper. It was an equal-opportunity silencer, exhibiting largely the same effect on each varietal, pricey and not. From mild Teleme to pungent Gorgonzola, the cheeses made every wine taste less oaky, less berry-like, less sour. The two blues had slightly more impact on the wines than the two soft cheeses, but the differences were insignificant for almost every trait. " The only more or less "positive" effect was the increase of the butteriness of the wine, plus, perhaps, the decrease in bitterness: "The decrease of astringency makes sense because you have a coating of the palate (with cheese)... That is the one effect I would say is real ." The synthesis report then makes an interesting observation: "The other outcomes -- that cheese diminished fruitiness, oakiness or spiciness -- may be what Heymann call(s) a cognitive effect. In other words, it's in our heads. We expect that result, so we find that result. Although she hasn't devised a way to tease apart the impact of cognition, or expectation, she suspects it's at the root of many vaunted wine-and-cheese marriages. " And the prof adds: "My 'take home' is, you shouldn't worry about which wine you have with which cheese," . "Have the wine you love with the cheese you love." In other words: it's all in the head. Take any (favorite) red wine and pair it with any (favourite) cheese. Our reaction? Primo: it's a pity that no white wines were tested, and by extension sweet white or red wines. Many "connaisseurs" and wine critics now proclaim: "red wine and cheese is out, white wine and cheese is in"! In our experience, shared with many course participants, this is a semi-truth. Secundo: One might extend the initial statement to "do not pair food and wine at all"... A well-known chef told us: "in marrying one type of food or ingredient with another, one has to look for a positive compromise: you loose something, but you gain a lot".. Tertio: our tasting experiences with course participants - see the tables below - show that some types of white wine (like solid Chardonnay) go han in hand with some types of cheese (like Gruyère or Comte de Jura), and some types of red wine (like meaty Shiraz) are a very good companion to some types of cheese (like Old Gouda or Bruges or old cheddar). In these tastings, we used the same "definition" as in the experiment. We end up with three myths nowadays concerning the pairing of cheese and wine:
Is it all in the head? Or in the heart? Maybe we should ask our course participants. What they did was this - in one case after blind tasting: they shared their personal experience. In some cases, they stated that "the cheese enriches the wine, and vice versa", and in other cases there was a "divorce"...
For more details, see: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/
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kaas en wijn horen niet samenTabel 1: Rode wijn en kaas + vlees Resultaten 18 cursisten
Table 1: The combination of red wines, cheese and meat - 18 course participants
(+++ = perfect marriage, ++: quite good, += good, - = divorce - empty cell: not tried)
| WINE | Av. Score |
Brie |
Ma-red- sous |
Cambo zola |
Old- Bruges |
Pas- try |
Cho- rizo |
Chi-cken | Smo- ked meat |
Ganda ham |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. CASTELL'in VILLA CHIANTI CLASSICO |
First B+ then A! |
++ |
+ |
++ |
- |
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2.CASILLERO DEL DIABLO Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 |
A |
|
++ |
++ | ||||||
3. VINJA LA ROSA CAPITANA MERLOT 2005 |
A+ |
+++ |
++ |
++ | ||||||
4. CHATEAU RIEUMAR La ClapeGrand Terroir 2003 |
A |
+ |
++ |
++ | ||||||
5. POMMARD COSTE-CAUMARTIN Pinot Noir 2000 |
A |
++ |
++ |
- |
++ |
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6. GRAND BAROSSA CHATEAU TANUNDA SHIRAZ Australia 2003 |
AA |
++ |
+++ |
++ |
++ | ++ |
Tabel 2: Witte en Rode wijn en kaas Resultaten 2 x 60 studenten
Table 2: White and red wines with cheese - Results of 2 x 60 students
++ = perfect marriage, + = good, 0 = neutral, - = divorce
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