On the 7th day, God may have rested, but at the human council meeting on the 4036th day of this new world order, I imagine he would have exasperatedly exclaimed, “Not everything I created is a match made in heaven!” And if I were there, I’d understand. Humans, urgh, what more can one say?
That said, she did leave us with, sorry God, a helluva’ lotta’ pairings. Some great —like burgers and cola—and some, like Bonnie & Clyde, well, debatable, but always better coupled. In light of that, I thought it would be a good start to talk about our strange drinking habits which involve copious amounts of liquids with unhealthy mixers and yet, food remains a stranger on the table.
Eat when you drink, that’s the basic principle of all the drinking I did during my formative years in Europe, and I believe it helped avoid many a hangover and saved evenings. And most recently, when I uncorked a fresh bottle of the Jameson Black Barrel, I was reminded of this adage again. This special Irish whisky is triple-distilled smooth but then has that extra charred Bourbon barrel ageing for a finish to give it that punchy toasty-chocolatey bite. It’s powerful but not dominant, novel yet memorable. And a few sips in, I felt like a snack, but was surprised that when I offered the idea up to my friends, they all declined. “I can’t drink after I have eaten,” seemed to the consensus. And that’s what got me set on writing this piece while at the same time, as a seamless segue, making a case for the bottle of Black Barrel by Jameson.
In a different lifetime, when I used to fly all over the world to be part of beverage judging panels, I remember there always being two kinds of people discussing said awards—there were the new school types, who dissected wines and spirits worse than a biology lab on meth, and then there was the old vanguard, which scoffed at the idea of trying beverages in a sterile environment to evaluate their objective worth. “Try it with food and friends, under the shade of an olive tree on a hot summer day!” or something similar was the general contention. Food was crucial to the enjoyment of any beverage.
And all European cultures emphasise this, a good reckoner that I recently received while attending the ‘World Tapas Day’ festivities at Sevilla, The Claridges (Delhi’s most legit address for a Spanish repast). They had taken great care to recreate traditional recipe for small bites (aka tapas) which were then served alongside beverages of your choice. My wife got a glass of Spanish Vina Temprana white while I settled for a pint of Bira White—it had been a hot day and both of us looked for a crisp refreshing cooler—but we both realised that even if we weren’t pairing each individual tapas with the drinks, they did overall ameliorate the evening as it lingered on.
This same idea of why food is important to drink was highlighted when we had visited Harp, the newly opened space at Maruchi. They pitch it as a speakeasy but frankly, to me, it is more of a dinner ‘n’ drinks-and-a-show kind of space. Harp had planned a stand-up evening. So, as the artistes amused us with their sets, an array of drinks (a bit limited, as it was launch night) and some easy bites were deftly placed before us so that we could eat and drink without much ado as we enjoyed the show. This careful orchestration ensured that we were able to immerse more of our senses into the space and its offering thereby making it a worthwhile evening out. I can’t think of many spaces which have regular stand-up nights. So, if that’s what you wish to pair your drink with, Harp is where you should head to.
So, all in all, there are so many examples from my recent jaunts which stress the importance of food with drinks and not just to avoid a hangover. It will make you drink less, perhaps, but it will certainly put more flavour into the experience, enhancing and amplifying the cumulative effect of it all. So, the next time you are heading out, remember that food and drinks are one the original matches that God left us. So, don’t bother too much with the ratings in a magazine or some silly site. Instead, listen to what your gut tells you and have yourself a lovely, civilised evening.
The writer is a sommelier
