Thoughts from the Porch: The Psychology Behind Pairing
There is an art to the perfect pairing of two items, whether it be food or music or even people. I'll never forget the day my husband squirted a blob of barbeque sauce on my mac and cheese and said "trust me." I did and it's actually not that bad. Now, we're from the southeast of the United States so we pair some interesting food items together and call it a casserole but even still, ask any church lady how they decide what goes in their Pyrex clad conglomerations and most of them will contain one secret ingredient that pulls all the rest together: cream of mushroom soup. I don't know anyone that heats up a bowl of cream of mushroom soup and eats it plain yet paired with chicken, cheese and rice and baked at 375 for 30 minutes? Yes please!
Authors and screenwriters have built characters and even plots on food. Let's talk Johnny Depp. This guy rarely chooses a script unless it includes some sort of food or drink pairing! If you've watched THE SECRET WINDOW based on a Stephen King short story, you may remember Mountain Dew and Doritos. Throughout the movie, these products appeared as if by magic to satisfy his growing anxiety and reestablish control and by the end, the viewer is grabbing their shoes and heading to the store to stock up! Why? It's not because we like those things, though I could go for a Dorito right now, but the power of subliminal messages tricked our subconscious minds into wanting them.
CHOCOLAT...need I say more? I dare you to watch this film without some sort of sweet confection by your side. BENNY AND JOON is just as guilty because the food they chose to pair was pistachio pudding. I had never tried the stuff until I saw the movie and within 24 hours I made it and rewatched the film to get the ultimate effect. Lastly, and probably my favorite out of all, is PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN. Don't lie. You've said this line more times than you want to admit so say it with me, "Why is the rum gone?" In fact, I'm asking that very question right now..."honey?"
While those are all movie examples, authors create the same triggers within their pages, pushing us toward a specific season, smell, feeling, location, sound and taste. Often times it is overt, like Gregg Hurwitz's ORPHAN X series and his constant description of the perfect vodka. However, there is another, more intimate level of pairing to consider.
Recently I posted a possible pairing for Ann Cleeves's new novel in her Detective Matthew Venn series, "something red" for the amount of blood that spilled throughout the plot. It was within 15 minutes that I received a response from Cleeves, stating, "No! Scrumpy!" At first I thought it was a joke. What is scrumpy? Thankfully Google is a real thing and low and behold, scrumpy comes from the West of England and it is a very strong cider that packs a punch. My pairing was WAY OFF and after finding the closest equivalent I could find, there was no competition. Scrumpy fully incapsulated the setting, season, conflicts and style of the novel. There was nothing surface about the book or the beverage; together they created an immersive experience, a bond between me and the author that I never thought possible.
You see, any of us can pair and share our ideas but when an author lets you into their soul and their taste buds, it's a unique and spiritual experience, a mingling of the psyches. If you are looking to start reading a new book, check the blog first and choose one of these and buy the beverage the authors have paired with it. Allow your senses to connect with the words and open your mind to a new way to read! Until then, cheers!
