Hungarian Wine & Chinese Cuisine: Food Pairing Event Recap


David Ho   |   November 16, 2022
Organizers and Guests at Hungarian Wine Pairing Event in Guangzhou

Hungary has found yet another way to show that its long friendship with China is rooted in a common history from a thousand years ago. This nation which came from Asia to settle down in the middle of Europe in the 9th century, has always excelled in winemaking. Its national wines, the Tokaji Aszú and the Bull’s Blood are appreciated among the best wines of European wine culture, yet they are something totally different and unique. For example, the pair perfectly with Chinese dishes. And to the wonder of Chinese wine and food experts, they even enhance the culinary experience.

The setup is familiar, fine dining restaurant, representatives of the Embassy, selected wine professionals and imported wines. However, here at this banquet of the Hungarian Federation of Winecraftsmen, the emphasis is not on branding, and nobody is pushing a product to sell. We are here to experience how certain wines make certain foods taste even better. Or in some cases, how the right food and wine pairings deliver a completely new culinary experience.

In Chinese food culture, we have a long history of preparing food with wine, but at the table, baijiu and beer is usually used to wash away the taste and get our mouth ready for a new bite from something different. In Europe however, centuries of developing different grape varieties and different blends of different grape wines brought along a new playground: the pairing of different dishes with different wines to achieve new wonders for the taste buds.  

Many of us have been drinking nicely bottled expensive wines from prestigious French or Italian wineries for decades now. It was a trend to leave the baijiu and the beer behind and show how classy we are. Still, not many of us really enjoyed these dinners or even got the stomach upset and a bad hangover the next day. I guess, we would also not expect any waiguoren to marvel at a 50 year old Maotai paired with a Belgian chocolate cake, or to enjoy a high quality Shaoxing rice wine with a blue cheese hamburger. Some things just do not match.

But why are most of the imported wines not matching our food? Well, they were developed over the centuries to pair with a cuisine very different from ours. And here is the thing with Hungary; their food culture is a real fusion of the east and the west and their wines were made to please people of a nation coming from Asia. Make no mistake, Hungarian wines are integral part of the “old world wine culture”. They are served from New York to Tokio along the best French, Spanish and Italian wines. A Hungarian winery was just awarded “Best fine wine producer in Europe” last week. But maybe they are so beloved because of how different they are.

Anyway, I had the chance to taste a selection of representative Hungarian wines with the best dishes of Guangzhou cuisine, and I am sure, that I will show this experience to my friends too. If you want to see what happened at the dinner and how the wine was paired, please follow the Douyin account of the Hungarian Federation of Winecraftsmen here: …..

And if you want to try something new and amazing, get a few bottles of Hungarian wine and invite your friends for dinner at your favorite local restaurant.

Select Hungarian Wines Featured at the Event

中文

匈牙利再次表明,中匈友谊源远流长,根植于千年前的共同历史。这个9世纪从亚洲来到欧洲中部定居的民族,一直擅长酿酒。它的国酒,托卡伊阿苏和公牛血是欧洲葡萄酒文化中最好的葡萄酒之一,同时它们也是完全不同并且都非常独特的葡萄酒。例如,他们都能与中国菜完美搭配。令中国葡萄酒和美食专家惊讶的是,它们甚至增加了美味体验。

熟悉的环境,高级餐厅,使馆代表,精选的葡萄酒专业人士和葡萄酒。然而,在这个匈牙利手工酿制葡萄酒协会的晚宴上,品牌不是重点,也没有人推销产品。我们来这里是为了体验某些葡萄酒如何让某些食物更美味。或者在某些情况下,正确的餐酒搭配如何提供一种全新的味蕾体验。

在中国的饮食文化中,餐酒搭配有着悠久的历史。但在餐桌上,白酒和啤酒通常是用来清口,让我们的嘴巴准备好去品尝不同的菜肴。然而,在欧洲,几个世纪以来,不同葡萄品种的开发以及混酿出来的各种不同的葡萄酒带来了一个新的乐园:不同的菜肴与不同的葡萄酒搭配,为味蕾创造了新的奇迹。

几十年来,我们许多人一直在喝法国或意大利名庄生产的优质瓶装昂贵葡萄酒。把白酒和啤酒抛在脑后,展示我们多有品位,这是一种趋势。尽管如此,我们当中并没有多少人真正喜欢这样的晚餐,甚至在第二天感到胃部不适和严重的宿醉。我想,我们也不认为外国人会觉得50年的茅台与比利时巧克力蛋糕很搭,或是用上等的绍兴米酒来配奶酪汉堡。有些东西就是不搭

但是为什么大多数进口葡萄酒和我们中国美食不搭呢?因为它们经过了几个世纪的发展来搭配与中国菜截然不同的菜肴。而匈牙利却是这样的情况:他们的饮食文化是东西方的真正融合,他们的葡萄酒是为了取悦亚洲人而酿造的。毫无疑问,匈牙利葡萄酒是“旧世界葡萄酒文化”不可或缺的一部分。从纽约到东京,都有最好的法国、西班牙和意大利葡萄酒,也都可以品尝到匈牙利葡萄酒。一个匈牙利酒庄上周刚刚被授予“欧洲最佳葡萄酒生产商”的称号。也许是因为他们与众不同,所以他们如此受人喜爱。

总之,我得幸品尝了匈牙利精选葡萄酒与最好的广州菜的搭配,我相信,我也会把这段经历分享给我的朋友们。如果您想了解晚宴上发生了什么有趣的碰撞以及匈牙利葡萄酒是如何搭配的,请关注匈牙利手工葡萄酒酿制协会的抖音号:….. 如果您也想尝试一些全新的美妙体验,不妨买几瓶匈牙利葡萄酒,邀请您的朋友来您最喜欢的当地餐馆吃个饭。