SHOULD YOU DRINK FINE WINE WITH HAWKER FOOD?

The Peak team scrutinise their palates.

From left to right and top to bottom: LYNETTE KOH (Watches & Fashion Editor); JASMINE TAY (Writer); JENNIFER CHEN (Editor); DENISE KOK (Features Editor); LIAO XIANGJUN (Features Writer).

NO

I don’t. I like my hawker food spicy. Why compromise the delicious pain that chillies provide? – JC

ONCE UPON A TIME, PEOPLE BELIEVED THAT RED/WHITE WINES HAD TO BE MATCHED WITH RED/WHITE MEATS RESPECTIVELY. THAT’S LONG BEEN THROWN OUT OF THE WINDOW. LIKE GETTING DRESSED, THE WINE-DRINKING EXPERIENCE IS PERSONAL AND SUBJECTIVE. I WOULDN’T DRINK EXCEPTIONAL WINES WITH HAWKER FOOD, NOT SO MUCH BECAUSE OF FLAVOURRELATED ISSUES, BUT SIMPLY BECAUSE I ASSOCIATE THE FORMER WITH SLOW ENJOYMENT AND THE LATTER WITH QUICK SATISFACTION. – LK

PROBABLY NOT. AS MUCH AS I WOULD LOVE TO EXPERIMENT THE COMBINATION (WHO KNOWS YOU MIGHT FIND SOMETHING NOTEWORTHY), I HAVE A LOW RISK APPETITE. SO I’LL STICK WITH THE PAIRINGS THAT WORK BEST. – JT

YES

THIS IS A MATTER OF SCIENCE. THE STIR-FRY WE SO LOVE WORKS BECAUSE OF ALL THE THINGS GOING ON IN OUR MOUTH, AND THIS CACOPHONY IS NOT NECESSARILY CONDUCIVE TO A CONVENTIONAL PAIRING. BUT IF YOU DO INSIST, GRAB WINES GROWN IN COOLER CLIMATES. HIGH ACIDITY CHALLENGES DELICIOUS GREASE BETTER. – XJ

Yes. And why not? Durian has proven to be the only fruit that’s impossible to pair with wine. Otherwise, everything else, including hawker food, is free game for the sommelier – even if uncorking a bottle of Chateau Lafite at a hawker centre might raise a few eyebrows. – DK