Opinion | Unlikely food and drink pairings: banana and caviar, whisky and coconut, cheeseburger and mescal, Midori and cold cuts all make sense
- Flavour combinations come in many forms, from the everyday sweet and sour to the more exotic, such as crisps dipped in hot chocolate
- Lorenzo Antinori, beverage manager of the Four Seasons Hong Kong, shares some of his more eclectic flavour combos
I am here to confess my love for weird and wonderful flavour combinations – the ones that keep me awake at night. Nothing excites me more than creating – and tasting – ugly delicious pairings that apparently shouldn’t go well together but work miraculously, harmoniously, in a “sacri-luscious” way.
Pairing food and wine is one of the greatest culinary pleasures, whether you are opening a bottle for a romantic dinner or having a glass with a bag of crisps. There is a huge variety of drinks and foods that can be joined together (amen for pineapple on pizza) that don’t necessarily have to be fancy or involve top-shelf ingredients.
From my many years of working in the food and beverage industry, recommending wine or spirits for various preparations, or simply coming up with new cocktails, I have come to believe in several essential truths about pairing.
These truths may not promise success – in fact, they might ruin friendships or have you expelled from your whisky club, but I hope they help you unlock a fun way to indulge. To quote the late Anthony Bourdain: “Our body is an amusement park”, so let’s enjoy the ride!
Go for good contrasts
