- Cook with the same wine you drink, almost will always work so long as the food itself likes wine
- Complement the food with the wine, based on similar scents, body, or flavor
- Contrast the food with the wine
Number 3 is the hardest to pull off for wine, you're ultimately still dependent upon some type of bridge element. In this recipe, I went down the path of #2 by finding multiple shared volatile compounds that affect aroma and flavor.
Really, I'm totally playing with my food here ... the dish should really be named “Ring around the Rosie Pork Chops”, as it started very floral and melded into a smokiness that reminded me of the children's rhyme (flowers to ashes, or something a little less morbid than the real meaning of the rhyme). I really enjoyed how unusual the floral rose flavor was, and the honey helped to further bridge the rose air with the pork.
For the pork chops, I put some hot charcoal into a metal bowl (outside in a fire safe place), then covered with hickory wood chips that had been soaking in water for one hour. Directly onto the wood chip I placed thin cut, boneless, center-cut pork chops and covered with aluminum foil for 10 minutes. I finished the chops by cleaning off the chips, then grilling for 2 minutes each side on a 400F grill.
Here is the rose air:
100g Rose Water
20g high quality raw honey
0.36g lecithin (0.3%)
It's essential that you follow the proportions with the lecithin, too much will result in a destabilized and oily foam. Heat the rose water and honey to combine, then add the lecithin and use an immersion blender in a small container (I used an old yogurt container). Tilt the liquid to one end to help with aeration. The airy foam will accumulate gradually, this is technically an air since it is mostly air.
While this is technically not a hydrocolloid, but I must give kudos to the hydrocolloid resources assembled by Martin over at Khymos which helped me achieve success here.
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