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A quality drink and a quality meal tend to combine to become more than the sum of their parts.

Make the right pairing, and you’re on the road to gastronomic satisfaction; make the wrong one, and you risk ruining both the food and the drink.

Let’s run through a few classic combinations, and try to work out why it is that they work.

Red meat and red wine

Everyone knows that red meat tends to go with red wine. But there’s more at work here than the colours involved. Red wine gets its colour from the tannins – these being compounds which give unripe plants their bitter and astringent taste. These react with the proteins and fats found in, say, a steak, and help to soften them. The fattier the cut of meat, the more it will benefit from a heavy wine like a Shiraz.

If you’re looking for a non-alcoholic option, then you might look at a sweet soft drink, with dark sugars and caramel notes. Coke is usually a reliable winner.

Seafood and white wine

White fish and shellfish tend to match nicely with white wine. The delicate sweetness and acidity of the wine will be able to sit alongside a delicate dish without overpowering it. Oilier fish, like salmon, will tend to suit a sharp white wine like a Chablis, which will cut through all of that fat.

Somewhat surprisingly, the non-alcoholic drink of choice here might be a cup of green tea. Those vegetative notes will work nicely with the fishy ones. It’s a combination that’s favoured across East Asia, and it works. Just make sure the tea is of the required quality.

Beer and anything

Since there’s such a wide variety of beer on offer, there tends to be an option that matches just about every dish available. If you’re going for a curry, then a good Indian pale ale will tend to work nicely. On the other hand, a stout will sit nicely alongside a heavy, rich dish like a stew.

Desserts

The term ‘dessert’ covers a lot of territory, and so the options are similarly diverse. Strong cheeses tend to be offset by wines, while doughnuts pair nicely with coffee. If one half of the combination is sweet, then the other half should ideally be fatty and creamy. We find this principle at work in that classic combination: cookies and milk.

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