Mexico's prize-winning but little known wines are increasingly being paired with its street cuisine, from legendary mole to humble blue corn quesadillas, in a country that traditionally toasts with tequila or beer.
Wine writer and expert Alejandro Zarate, a leading defender of the idea that the best food is not necessarily in the most expensive restaurant, says he likes to pair "tlayuda con tasajo," a toasted corn concoction made with beans, sausage, meat and sauce, with a hearty red from Santo Tomas Unico.
Tlayudas came from the southern state of Oaxaca, renowned for its rich cuisine. They are traditionally made fresh at stands in the city center.
Santo Tomas Unico Cabernet-Merlot Gran Reserva 2004 is not for every day: It costs about $55 a bottle. It was one of nine Mexican wines that took home prizes at the 2008 Brussels international wine competition.
"After I interviewed a lot of chefs and cooks, I discovered a constant: When they were off work, most of them snuck out for traditional street fare," Zarate said.
The streets of Mexico are lined with vendors selling garnachas, usually small snacks made with a base of blue or yellow corn and some fat, at outdoor stands nationwide.
And why not pair all that deliciousness with a Mexican wine, asks Zarate, author of "The Chronicles of Wine and Mexican Food."
Mexicans are huge fans of spicing up their food with hot chili pepper sauces. And for many, the idea of sipping wine with their beloved street fare is anathema to their hot dining experience.
For Zarate, the charm is all in mixing it up to have fun.
The function of the sauce, he says, ought to be to complement the flavors, and not just to make a meal spicy hot.
To try out his theories, Zarate headed to a local street fare stand, brandishing wine glasses and a bottle of wine – "a young wine, light, with fruit notes and some tannins," he said.
For Zarate, the match between it and a "quesadilla azul con queso y cuitlacoche," a corn and cheese dish that includes a fungus that grows on corn stalks, "was simply spectacular."
Pairing Mexico's mini-meals from the streets with wine – and particularly Mexican wine, Zarate says, "is a real viable option for Mexican throats so given and loyal to tequila and beer.”
Mexico's first wines were produced about 400 years ago, in Coahuila. But the Spanish Crown banned them to discourage competition with the mother country's vintages.
Wine writer and expert Alejandro Zarate, a leading defender of the idea that the best food is not necessarily in the most expensive restaurant, says he likes to pair "tlayuda con tasajo," a toasted corn concoction made with beans, sausage, meat and sauce, with a hearty red from Santo Tomas Unico.
Tlayudas came from the southern state of Oaxaca, renowned for its rich cuisine. They are traditionally made fresh at stands in the city center.
Santo Tomas Unico Cabernet-Merlot Gran Reserva 2004 is not for every day: It costs about $55 a bottle. It was one of nine Mexican wines that took home prizes at the 2008 Brussels international wine competition.
"After I interviewed a lot of chefs and cooks, I discovered a constant: When they were off work, most of them snuck out for traditional street fare," Zarate said.
The streets of Mexico are lined with vendors selling garnachas, usually small snacks made with a base of blue or yellow corn and some fat, at outdoor stands nationwide.
And why not pair all that deliciousness with a Mexican wine, asks Zarate, author of "The Chronicles of Wine and Mexican Food."
Mexicans are huge fans of spicing up their food with hot chili pepper sauces. And for many, the idea of sipping wine with their beloved street fare is anathema to their hot dining experience.
For Zarate, the charm is all in mixing it up to have fun.
The function of the sauce, he says, ought to be to complement the flavors, and not just to make a meal spicy hot.
To try out his theories, Zarate headed to a local street fare stand, brandishing wine glasses and a bottle of wine – "a young wine, light, with fruit notes and some tannins," he said.
For Zarate, the match between it and a "quesadilla azul con queso y cuitlacoche," a corn and cheese dish that includes a fungus that grows on corn stalks, "was simply spectacular."
Pairing Mexico's mini-meals from the streets with wine – and particularly Mexican wine, Zarate says, "is a real viable option for Mexican throats so given and loyal to tequila and beer.”
Mexico's first wines were produced about 400 years ago, in Coahuila. But the Spanish Crown banned them to discourage competition with the mother country's vintages.
1 comment:
Hi Ozlem,
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