By Steven Dimatteo

Chef Norman Van Aken is a leading culinary artist, boldly crafting his masterpieces. Along with other outstanding and pioneering chefs such as Lydia Shire, Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken, Fusion cooking is becoming America’s stand in the international culinary world. With so many different flavors coming together, the necessity of pairing the correct wines have now become more important than ever.

When pairing wines with foods, you have to make sure that you are complimenting one with the other. Sweet and spicy dishes should be paired with acidic and citrus wines, while heavy dishes with big wines.  These flavors combined with the correct balance, puts your mouth and taste buds into a euphoric Texas Two Step.

Benjamin Franklin wisely said, “Wine makes daily living easier, less hurried, with fewer tensions and more tolerance.”

Wine is a way of life. Drinking wine on a daily basis can truly make your days much better.  Not only will you be healthier, you will simply just feel better. Now when I talk about daily consumption, I’m referring to responsible drinking. This isn’t the green light to go ahead and down bottles of wine every night. My favorite way of incorporating wine into my daily lifestyle is to have a glass or two with my meal at night when sitting down for supper with my family. Doing this ensures a few things.

A. Spending time with my family daily

B. Getting a few minutes of sit down and relaxation time.

C. Drinking Wine!!!

I do most of the cooking, so many of my dishes are considered fusion. I love to mix different ethnic spices, exotic textures and traditional flavors together.

Gewurztraminers and Rieslings are wonderful wines when it comes to ethnic cuisine.  Asian culinary, especially Japanese, Thai, and Chinese are extremely compatible with Gewurztraminers and Rieslings. The use of fermented items, Pickled Vegetables, Soy-based ingredients and highly spiced components in these cooking traditions, require the refreshingly aggressive flavor profile found with the acidic and sweet persona in these great German style wines.

If you’re like me, you love to add some spice to your cooking.   I pair spicier dishes with the Syrah or Shiraz.  I tend to combine a lot of Mexican and Italian food. I also love to take Texan Cuisine to a whole new level.  I make Brisket many different ways, but I almost always make it spicy. I love blending Italian technique with Latin spices and fruits. The rich, ripe plum, blueberry and vanilla, in a syrah make an absolute immaculate marriage with the spices erupting in the mouth.

The body and style of the Syrah, appeals to fusion foods because of it succulent spiciness and earthy rustic characteristics The way the rich ripe sweetness of the fruit, and the soft complexity of this Varietal, makes for an exquisite mach for more heavier dishes.

Roasted beef tenderloin stuffed with wild mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, spinach, and rosemary, served with a Habanero Chile ajus with apricot. Accompanied by, fresh green beans sautéed with pecans, and raspberries, along with parmesan garlic mashed potatoes. Paired with, Mulheimer Sonnenlay Zeppelin Riesling 2002, and Mi Sueno Syrah 2001.

This poetic composition will send your ever so deserving taste buds though a cultural metamorphosis of flavors. So raise your glass and enjoy the adventurous lifestyle of wine.

Steven Dimatteo is a winetaster in Houston. He does private wine consultations through his company Lucho Lifestyle - aimed at building your knowledge on wine. You can reach him at chateaudimatteo@yahoo.com