with some kick

[dozer]

Any suggestions for a good wine to tone down a good ole hot sauce?

[Drew]

Usually would go with beer for hot sauce laden foods. If you're determined to drink wine, make yourself a sangria.

Drew

[wineguruchgo]

I've always heard that the hotter the dish (spice - not temperature) the sweeter the wine. Riesling/Gewurtz?

I'm sure others will have opinions also.

[hotwine]

I consume a fair amount of hot sauce (order both Tabasco and Texas Champagne, a cayenne pepper sauce, by the case). But I limit its consumption to breakfast and lunch when I'm drinking something other than wine. If a dash or three of sauce is needed at supper, such as on an omelet, I normally choose a Syrah. A beefy Barbera can also hold up well. But haven't had much luck trying to pair a white wine with a hot sauce.

[winoweenie]

I personally prefer a young fruity Zin with my Mexican goodies. Seems the fruit takes on the heat pretty well. WW

[Innkeeper]

Agree with WW.

[Kcwhippet]

Agree also, but my alternative is a good Mexican lager beer.

[winoweenie]

I'm with the KC. Give me a 6-pack of Dos Equis ennytimes!WW

[Kcwhippet]

XX's is OK, but my current preference is Negra Modelo.

[ShortWiner]

Alcohol exacerbates spiciness in the mouth, I believe, which is maybe why many people prefer beer.

[Innkeeper]

I find that nothing removes the heat in your mouth better than bananas. Always take a bunch to chile tasting contests. Problem is what to drink with the bananas?

[Kcwhippet]

Why, rum of course.

[quijote]

To drink with a banana: DuBoeuf Beaujolais? [img]http://38.118.142.245/ubb2/wink.gif[/img]

To drink with hot and spicy foods: Tonight I made a hot and spicy Indian dish, Chicken Karahi, and it went great with Bonny Doon's 2002 Ca' del Solo Bighouse Red. Several people have commented on this wine (use search function); it's a blend of syrah, petite sirah, mourvedre, and other spice-friendly grapes. And it's easy to find and easy on the wallet.

[dozer]

I happened to have a reisling open in the fridge, and it actually worked quite nicely.

[sedhed]

As I mentioned in another post, I grow habanero peppers. I've found that dairy product such as as whole milk and real icecream helps put the fire out. Alcohol helps also but milk or icecream works faster.
The cemical in the pepper that makes it taste hot is called Capsaicin. Dairy products have an enzyme called Caseine that helps desolve the Casaicin in your mouth faster so the burn does not last as long. Try it, you'll like it.
I drink beer with hot foods.

[This message has been edited by sedhed (edited 01-29-2004).]

[Claudette1247]

One thing you can drink to combat excessive spiciness of the food you're eating is by drinking milk.

[mrdutton]

De Ja Vous...........!!

[mrdutton]

For really over the top hot stuff; milk

For authentic Mexican food - beer or tequila

For other spicy foods from other nationalities - reasearch to find out what the locals drink. Then try that particular combination.

OR try some of the above suggestions, because they are all good and they are reasonable.

Zinfandel and Syrah (or that nice stuff from Bonny Doon) on the red side and Reisling or Gwertz on the white side.

But my palate seems to prefer the wines with the mild to mid-range heat levels and the beer and milk with the mid-range to the over-the-top heat levels.

And Sedhed is right on! Milk chemically reacts with the capsaicin to reduce or neutralize its intensity.

[sedhed]

Milk or icecream is the last resort only for those not expecting the heat. Experienced hot food eaters are on their own and are not allowed to have access to the antidote. That's in the Hot Pepper Code Book.

[quijote]

Many cultures from the Middle East and Asia, and some from Latin America, traditionally eat or drink milk products in order to tame capsaicin and rebalance the palate. I eat hot and spicy foods fairly regularly, and have come to the point of having some kind of yogurt-based condiment (raita) with much of my food, even if I cross cultures a bit.

Most people I know from India use yogurt-based condiments for the job, but a couple of these people think that bread (naan or flatbread) is more effective.