Of wine and onions

Hi,

I've always been one for strong sensations. I like espresso coffee, spicy salsa, rousing music, rough massages, fast women (no, scratch that last one ), you get the idea...

However, this is not the case when it comes to wine.
I prefer wines that are elegant, well-balanced, digestible, neither over-oaked nor over-alcoholic, and ones that don't tire out the system.
Class over power.

How to reconcile this with food?

I have an impressive consumption of garlic, onions, and shallots. The growers should erect a statue to me...

I use garlic and parsley in many dishes, adore freshly-made pesto, and often cook ail en chemise, whole cloves of pink garlic in their skin, when roasting meat (the pulp is divine).
Spring garlic ("aillet") sends me into raptures...

It's much the same story with onions. A good homemade onion soup in winter is wonderful. And I have difficulty imagining any kind of stew or savory dish without the magic bulb. Spring onions and Bermuda onions bring salads to life. I even like onion's lily-livered cousins, chive and leeks.

As for shallots, life would be unbearable without "entrecôte à la bordelaise" or "bavette à l'échalote" (a cheap, not very tender, but delicious cut of beef - hanger steak or skirt steak - with fried shallots)

Were I to serve a great wine, would I avoid onions or garlic?
Hmmmmm. I would certainly tone down their presence.
But, like good wine, I find that onion is a sensual, characterful flavor.
I find it difficult to imagine a wine lover not liking it. And cohabitation is not a problem in my humble opinion.

Best regards,
Alex R.

A few years ago in the Kitchen Forum (or was it the FLDG?) I asked the question "Is it possible to put too many onions in soups?" Of course I was roundly criticized, but the point I was trying to make is that I never had a soup of any kind where I commented "There's too many onions in this soup". As far as wine matches, I don't think cooked onions, as an ingredient or an accompaniment, present any major challenge to wine pairing. Raw onions do present different problems with their sharpness and the type of onion used is critical.

I am right there with you, Alex and Howie.

I love everything from the onion family and can't imagine not cooking with it. I've never found that it interferes with my enjoyment of wine either.

Speaking of roasted garlic, one of our favorite appetizers is crostini, served alongside roasted garlic, melted jack cheese, and a tomatillo salsa with just a bit of a kick. One spreads the garlic on the bread, layers on the cheese and salsa verde. Heaven!

I too love onions and garlic, and think that nature gave us a handy serving size suggestion with the head of garlic. Because one head of garlic is such a handy portion that it almost seems silly to include less and leave the half-used head sitting there exposed. Of course my girlfriend doesn't always agree.

Anyway, wine wise, I agree with Howie, cooked onions and garlic are much less problematic than in raw form..

IOf course my girlfriend doesn't always agree.

If only she would, there would be no problem!

Howie wrote: Of course I was roundly criticized

Howie, I bet you were! I love it though.

Count me in. I grow my own garlic, shallots, onions, and leeks--we eat one or more of them daily--never had any negative effect on my wine consumption. And when in doubt, there is always Riesling or the Muscat family.