Recipe for a proper Food and Wine pairing, almost...

                                              
Attaining the proper acidic balance in cooking is so important especially when something is to be enjoyed with a fine wine. Some posts ago I spoke of citrus and how they interact or counteract the wines we are enjoying with a meal, same hold true with cooking with wine, vinegar or spirits. The pH level of most vinegars is somewhere between 5 and 6% , Rice wine vinegar on the other hand has a 3.5 to 4 % levels and is much smoother, sweeter and softer on the palette. It is all about chemistry and balance. Asian cooking rice wine vinegar is used in so many of the recipes as is Shaoxing wine which is made from rice. Fun fact, Shaoxing wine will sometime replace rice at the beginning of a meal and is drank from a rice bowl in some parts of Asia, hmmm, it makes sense to me as far as digestion goes. Back to acidity, just a couple of posts ago I posted Basque Marinade, there is nothing non acidic about it, just look at the ingredients, however it goes a long way meaning you only need a little bit. Acidity will cook what ever it is marinading if too high as will a long soak. I remember back before I got out of High School and knew little about cooking I marinaded pork in wine and pineapple juice over night, after it was grilled it turned chalky because the meat  was being broken down and cooked as it soaked in the concoctional marinade that was way acidic. The pH range is from 0 to 14, with 7.0 being neutral.  Anything above 7.0 is alkaline, anything below 7.0 is considered acidic. Acidic it what you want in cooking but in balance, many foods are high in alkaline so knowing what levels or where they live on the 0-14 range is key. There is much more that is relevant and important about pH levels and cooking, if you want to know and understand more about it then pack the books up and take a chemistry of cooking class because I am just talking basics here. Here is a chart that shows where some foods live on the 0-14ph level (3-10 range on this one).
I could get into the whole baking soda and what it does to pH values but maybe some other time,  it is interesting and better left for a pastry chef. Where are you going with this Chef?(might you ask). Over the next few posts I am going to be sharing some recipes and explain how and why to pair them with the proper wine. Pairing has become extremely popular, knowing some basics about pH is a key component in properly pairing a meal with a wine. Just as farm to the table and knowing what soil something is grown in, the ground to the grape is vital as well if you really want to go all the way with it but there are ways around it.
I will return with a bit of pairing and understanding so until then "Think Good Thoughts & Smile".