Food for Thought
Food and Wine Pairing Guidelines
- Match the fl avours and intensity of the wine with the strongest fl avour on the plate.
- When in doubt, use s sparkling, because sparkling goes with everything.
- Decide whether you desire a complementary or contrasting pairing.
- Make sure that either (1) the wine makes the food taste better, or (2) the food makes the wine taste better.
- With sweet foods (as with desserts), the wine must always be sweeter than the food. One possible exception is Ice wine, due to the fact that Ice wine is so concentrated in fl avour that it can sometimes be paired successfully with sweeter foods.
- Salty foods pair well with sweet beverages (e.g. late harvest wines).
- In general, remember that vinegar is the antithesis of wine. Sharp vinaigrettes on salads can only be paired with very sweet wines (contrast pairing). (1) Sweetness will always soften acid. (2) Acid will increase the "brightness" of a fl abby, sweet dish.
- Cold serving temperatures decrease the perception of sweetness and body of the wine.
- Tannins are cumulative on the palate, so be careful with having back-to-back tannic wine and food. The perceived astringency/bitterness will increase with each sip/bite due to this cumulative eff ect.
- High-alcohol wines add the "heat" of a spicy dish. Spicy foods marry very well with low-alcohol wines.
Reprinted with permission from Bayview Bits & Bites Newsletter |
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Redesigned U.S. Currency - $10
Following the 2003 and 2004 redesigns of the $20 and $50 notes, the U.S. government has recently introduced the new $10 note, which will appear early in 2006. Like its predecessors, the new $10 note will retain important security features, such as colour-shifting ink, security thread, and a watermark. It will still have the same "American look and feel," only with enhanced imaging. The recent redesign is part of the government's plan to reduce counterfeiting, as frequent design updates make counterfeiting more difficult. The new $10 note also includes features that make it easily identifiable to the visually impaired.
Don't worry if you're using old $10 notes; there's no need to exchange your old U.S. money for new. In fact, U.S. currency dating as far back as 1861 remains redeemable today at full face value.
For more information on the new $10 U.S. note, or other currency designs, visit www.moneyfactor.gov/newmoney.
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