Science In Your Wine Glass

It's always cool when scientists examine conventional wisdom. Sometimes they discover that it's just plain wrong, and that's fun because you can then lord it over the poor ignorant dupes who haven't read the latest postings on Science Made Cool. But it's even more interesting when researchers figure out why something "everybody knows" is actually true.

For instance, it's a well-known rule that you don't drink red wine with fish. How come? Just the aesthetics of red beverage clashing with white food? The Four Elements theory? Queen Victoria didn't approve?

Nope. It's chemistry. Six Japanese scientists recently published a paper in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, documenting the interaction between iron compounds in wine and substances in seafood. Iron-rich red wines increase the production of volatile organic compounds which create a "fishy" aftertaste. White wines, which are lower in iron, don't do that.

It's also noteworthy that in the traditional multi-course meal plan, the fish course comes before the meat -- perhaps chefs and diners noticed that fish isn't as good after you've taken on a big dose of iron-heavy beef and red wine.

So now if someone tries to serve red wine with fish, you can confidently say "Stop!  In the name of SCIENCE!"

Comments

[Thom H.]

Or drink several glasses of red wine before dinner and you won't care if the fish is "fishy" tasting. :-)