Salut/Hi Ace,

le/on Wed, 07 Jul 2004 09:28:17 +0200, tu disais/you said:-

>>Fine, but does the wine _enhance_ indian food? I don't find it does. YMMV
>
>Yes. And Yes.
>
>>>>A much better choice would be beer, and better yet fruit juice (real fruit
>
>>And I should have mentioned cider, which I find goes much better than wine,
>>especially if it's got some sweetness.
>
>Yukk. Sweet wines, fruit juices or cider seem to me exactly the sort
>of thing that would competely kill a good curry or other spicy food.
>YMOV.

How odd, because there is a long and strong tradition in India to serve
fruit juice - often very sweet - with their meals, and equally, in East
Africa, it's common to serve side dishes, some of which are sweet. Equally,
many chutneys are sweet. So the experience of many is that sweet elements do
no harm to curry.
>>>>The other question is the mirror image. "Will the dish taste better for being
>>>>matched with this wine?". Again if the answer is "no" then it's NOT a good
>>>>match.
>>>
>>>Exactly, but I find that there are a great many wines where the answer
>>>here is in fact 'yes'.
>>
>>Then I would suggest that either the indian dishes you're seeking to match
>>aren't very typically "indian" as found in "indian" restaurants throughout
>>the UK
>
>These are exactly the types of dishes I'm talking about, yes. Plus
>those that we cook at home, where we're often trying to mimic the
>former in any case.

Well the indian dishes I cook at home are most certainly NOT trying to ape
Indian Restaurant cooking. But that's hair splitting.

>>or your criteria for "enhancing" are not mine.
>>
>>>Basically, it's all simply a matter of taste,
>>
>>Yes, I think that's fair, though I'd prefer to insert 'educated' between
>>'of' and 'taste'.
>
>So you haven't yet educated your taste to the same level as mine then?
>Works both ways, you see ;-)

Not really.

>>Why? Is the shared experience of many generations of wine lovers not worth
>>consideration? I am always happy to listen to what others have to say about
>>food/wine marriages, despite having made it a hobby for 30 odd years.
>
>"Happy to listen" seems, however, to translate in your case to "listen
>with a condescending ear and tell them they're wrong if they disagree
>with me". Just the way you come across, perhaps.

I don't listen with a condescending ear, and I am sorry if it comes across
that way. However I've had enough wines with curries over 30/40 years to
know that _I_ have yet to find a marriage that is better than "OK, I
suppose". So I listen - or read with interest, but I'm not going to say that
I think something is so when I have found the exact opposite.

>So you're basically saying you know best and anyone else's opinion is
>worth diddly squat.

I've not said that. I think I shall drop out of this thread, as we seem to
be unable to find any common ground at all.

--
All the Best
Ian Hoare
http://www.souvigne.com
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