May 31, 2019 · Jorrit Hoexum
AAs a professional in the hospitality industry, this is a familiar question. Does the head chef devise a beautiful dish and do you have to provide a matching wine? Or do you find a superb wine through the wine supplier, and does the chef cook a beautiful and fitting dish to accompany it? In many restaurants, it is customary for the wait staff to align their wine selection with the dishes coming from the kitchen.
For years, I have been of the opinion that if the kitchen can find flavorful ingredients to create a beautiful dish, it should also be the duty of the wait staff to select wines that the kitchen must adapt to. I realize that there is often a difficulty here, because wine, with its multiple flavor factors, can be very complex and cannot be changed once added.
The head chef can often still adjust the dish to the wine choice by omitting or adding one or more ingredients. It is therefore a fantastic challenge to determine the dish and wine pairing through collaboration between the hosts and hostesses and the kitchen brigade. An important first step in this process is tasting the dishes and wines together. This collaboration also fosters mutual appreciation in the workplace.
This collegial tasting can also reveal that certain combinations are not the right ones and do not belong on the menu. In practice, the head chef begins selecting ingredients long before a new menu is compiled. I advocate having the wait staff choose wines in advance as well, wines that, for example, align with the season. The kitchen brigade can then potentially align the choice of a new dish with these.
Finding the right choice of wines and food is a must for professionals in the hospitality industry. We wish you every success. Bidfood has selected a number of wines with which the head chef and his kitchen brigade can prepare a flavorful dish.
Also read the other column by Jorrit Hoexum: Wine is a crucial part of the menu.
