Demonstration that feijoada fits better with beer than Bordeaux wine

Introduction Feijoada is a stew of beans with beef and pork,which is the national Brazilian dish. It is served with rice and farofa (manioc flour sauted in butter). "Brazilian feijoada (feijoada brasileira) is prepared with black beans,[3] a variety of salted pork or beef products, such as pork[3] trimmings (ears, tail, feet),[3] bacon, smoked pork ribs, and at least two types of smoked sausage and jerked beef (loin and tongue) and in some regions of the northeast, like Bahia and Sergipe they usually add vegetables like cabbage, kale, potatoes, carrots, okra, pumpkin, chayote and sometimes banana. They are added at the end of the cooking, on top of the meat, so they are cooked by the vapors of the beans and meat stew. This stew is best prepared over low fire in a thick clay pot. The final dish has the beans and meat pieces barely covered by a dark purplish-brown broth. The taste is strong, moderately salty but not spicy, dominated by the flavors of black bean and meat stew. It is customary to serve it with white rice and oranges, the latter to help with digestion. Feijão com arroz is the rice and black beans without the addition of the meat." From wikipedia (1) Matherials and methods "Ingredients 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 cups chopped onions 2 tablespoons chopped garlic 2 bay leaves Salt Freshly ground black pepper 1 pound choriço sausage, sliced 1/4-inch thick 1 pound carne seca or other salted cured beef, soaked overnight and cubed 1 pound baby back spareribs, cut into individual ribs 1 pound black beans 10 cups water 4 cups collared or kale greens, sauteed in olive oil 4 cups cooked white rice Brazilian hot sauce Garnish: 1 orange, halved and cut into thin slices, and Farofa Directions In a large heavy-bottom saucepan, over medium heat, add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the onions and garlic. Crush the bay leaves and add to the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Saute for 5 minutes. Add the sausage. Continue to cook for 4 minutes. Add the cubed beef, ribs, beans and water. Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until the beans are tender, about 2 1/2 hours. Adding water as necessary to keep the beans covered. Using the back of a ladle, mash 1/4 of the beans. Reseason with salt and pepper if needed. To serve, spoon some of the greens and rice onto each serving plate. Spoon the Feijoada over the rice. Shake some of the hot sauce over the entire plate. Garnish with the orange slices and farofa." Cited from SmithsonianMag (2). Results We tasted home made fejioada pairing with either lager beer or red bordeaux wine. The panel was composed by about twelve lab members, specifically trained to wine and food tasting by dozens of lab parties, with an experience of several years. 85% of the above population agreed that beer matches better than red wine to the dish. In particular, we noted that beer CO2 is sufficient to equilibrate the fatty sauce while respecting the light body of the rise and manioc side dishes. Discussion Here we compared the traditional pairing of fejioada with lager beer to a more innovative approach based on an equilibrate blend represented by the French bordeaux wine. We concluded that beer is more appropriate than red wine to accompany the dish. Since light beer was slightly inadequate to support the full bodied and very aromatic meat sauce, we foresee that champagne wine might have the right combination of aromatic intensity and persistence and body, not to forget effervescence, to perfectly pair fejioada. This hypothesis grunts further investigation. Figure

Acknoledgements Emidio Matos is gratefully acknoledged for the fejioada and farofa preparation. References 1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feijoada 2) http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Celebrate-Brazil-with-Emerils-Feijoada-180951699/?no-ist