Evaluation of Ideal Everyday Italian Food and Beer Pairings with Regular Consumers and Food and Beverage Experts

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between the sensory characteristics of beer and food that harmonically complement each other respectively from the consumer or the sommelier point of view. With this in view, the most desirable beer and everyday Italian food combinations were explored. Eighteen beer samples, easily available in the off-premise chain in Italy, and 9 dishes of Italian cuisine, were selected. The level of match of each beer and food combination was determined by a group of 51 consumers and by seven food experts using a 9-point Likert-like scale of suitability. Agreements and disagreements between food professionals and consumers were studied and discussed. Generally speaking, most of the dishes were poor complements to the beers selected for this study, for both regular consumers and experts. In particular, seafood salad, spaghetti with tomato sauce and creamed vegetable soup were inappropriate to nearly all of the beer samples overall. However, both consumers and experts found appropriate and interesting beer and food pairing choices, despite usually indicating different ideal beer samples and different levels of match for the same food. This confirmed that certain flavours of food and beer mix together better than others and indicates that consumers may have a different perception of the level of match between beer and food from experts. For regular consumers, the suitability to food was found to positively correlate with the sensory liking of beer. Furthermore the pairing suitability was not equivalent across consumer gender and age class, although these differences had a moderate to weak effect on the level of the final match. Correlations between sensory properties of food and beer samples are reported and discussed.

Understanding consumer preferences for Shiraz wine and Cheddar cheese pairings

“…Since this study held the one Cheddar cheese constant but varied the wines, these results support the notion that preferred Shiraz wine and Cheddar cheese pairs at least depend upon the consumer liking of the wine. Studies which examined consumer liking of Italian beers and foods also found that the suitability of the beer to food was positively correlated with the sensory liking of the beer (Donadini et al, 2008). Regardless that Cheddar is the most commonly consumed cheese style in Australia, further studies with different Cheddars and still others with different wine and cheese style combinations will be required to confirm the current findings and to examine whether the food liking impacts the preferred wine and food pairings.…”

“…One can imagine that these interactions only become more complicated to understand when food and beverages are combined. Although some large wine and food companies may have conducted in house studies, even more astounding is the lack of consumer studies examining preferences for alcoholic beverage and food combinations in the public domain (Bastian, Payne, Perrenoud, Joscelyne, & Johnson, 2009;Donadini, Spigno, Fumi, & Pastori, 2008). Again, these types of investigations present a significant challenge to researchers as the potential wine and food combinations that exist are enormous.…”

“…doi:10.1016/j.foodqual.2010.02.002 Nygren, Gustafsson, & Johansson, 2002, 2003a, 2003b. Researchers have reported that suitability of beer to food was positively correlated with sensory liking of the beer (Donadini et al, 2008). Yet a search of the current literature revealed that no consumer studies had examined wine and food combination preferences.…”

Consumer perception of food–beverage pairings: The influence of unity in variety and balance

“…Previous pairing studies have demonstrated both agreement and disagreement between consumers and experts, and between the experts themselves, regarding match perception of food and beverage pairings (Bastian et al, 2009, Donadini et al, 2008King and Cliff, 2005;Koones et al, 2014). Chollet and Valentin (2001) found that while experts were better than untrained consumers to use precise terms to describe beer, their performances were similar regarding a matching task.…”

“…In addition to the studies focusing on wine, some studies have also investigated the use of beer in food-beverage pairings. Donadini et al (2008) compared how culinary experts and regular consumers perceived suitability of pairings of popular Italian dishes and conventional beers. Differences between experts and consumers regarding in the perceived suitability of the pairings were observed even though pairings generally were rated as poor.…”