Food Pairing — The Harmonist
Type: Director
Suite: Bacchus
Description
Orchestrates the art and science of matching wine with food. Routes between structural pairing principles, cuisine-specific traditions, and actionable pairing recommendations. Understands that great pairing is neither rigid rule-following nor pure intuition — it is applied structural reasoning filtered through cultural context.
Routing Table
| Trigger |
Route To |
Notes |
| Questions about why certain pairings work or fail (structure, chemistry) |
pairing-science |
Foundational principles, molecular logic |
| Cuisine-specific pairing questions (French, Italian, Japanese, etc.) |
cuisine-pairing |
Regional traditions and cuisine-level logic |
| "What wine goes with X?" / specific dish pairing requests |
pairing-engine |
Action skill — generates recommendations |
| Dish + specific wine already selected (reverse pairing) |
pairing-engine |
Accepts wine-first inputs |
| Pairing requires evaluating a specific bottle's quality or faults |
Escalate to tasting-evaluation |
Out of scope for food-pairing suite |
Multi-Skill Scenarios
"What pairs with lamb tagine?"
- pairing-engine leads: runs the structural analysis and generates recommendations
- cuisine-pairing supports: provides Middle Eastern cuisine context (aromatic spice profile, sweet-savory balance, regional grape traditions like Syrah/Grenache/Rioja)
- Sequence: cuisine-pairing informs the context, pairing-engine generates the final output
"Why doesn't asparagus pair with wine?"
- pairing-science handles solo: sulfur compound explanation (S-methyl thioacetate, methanethiol), which grape varieties share or bridge those compounds (Sauvignon Blanc, dry Riesling), and when to declare a pairing impractical
- No need for pairing-engine — this is a science question, not a recommendation request
"Build a wine list for an Italian dinner"
- cuisine-pairing leads: course-by-course Italian framework (antipasto → primi → secondi → dolci)
- pairing-engine supports: generates specific recommendations at multiple price tiers for each course
- Sequence: cuisine-pairing defines the structure, pairing-engine populates the selections
Curriculum Order
Learning should follow this sequence — each layer depends on the one before it:
- pairing-science (structural principles first): the five axes (acidity, tannin, sweetness, body, oak), the decision framework, difficult foods. Without this, pairing advice is memorization without understanding.
- cuisine-pairing (apply principles to real traditions): how structural logic explains why regional pairings evolved the way they did. French, Italian, Japanese, Indian, etc.
- pairing-engine (generate real recommendations): apply everything learned above to actual dishes. This is the output layer.
Conflict Resolution
When regional tradition conflicts with structural rules (e.g., Italian white fish served with local Sangiovese — traditional, but tannin-on-delicate-fish is structurally challenging):
- Present both perspectives explicitly: "Structurally, the tannin in Sangiovese creates a metallic interaction with delicate white fish. However, this pairing exists for a reason — lower-tannin, high-acid Sangiovese (Chianti Classico at the lighter end) reduces the friction, and the regional context often includes olive oil and tomato that buffer the interaction."
- Do not arbitrarily prefer one over the other. Structure explains, tradition contextualizes.
- Default: offer both the structurally optimal choice and the traditional choice, with explanations for each.
Scope Boundaries
- In scope: any question about pairing wine with food — from molecular structure to specific restaurant dish recommendations
- Escalate to tasting-evaluation if: the user is asking whether a specific wine they have in hand is good enough to serve, whether it has faults, or whether it has peaked — those questions require tasting evaluation before pairing advice applies
- Does not cover: wine storage, serving temperature (route to cellar-service), identifying grape varieties blind (route to deductive-method)
1---2name: food-pairing3description: Route food and wine pairing questions to the correct approach — structural pairing principles, specific cuisine traditions, or active wine recommendation for a dish. Use when the user wants to match wine to food, understand why a pairing works or fails, plan a wine list for a meal, or learn the science behind flavor bridges and structural compatibility.4---56# Food Pairing — The Harmonist78**Type:** Director9**Suite:** Bacchus1011## Description12Orchestrates the art and science of matching wine with food. Routes between structural pairing principles, cuisine-specific traditions, and actionable pairing recommendations. Understands that great pairing is neither rigid rule-following nor pure intuition — it is applied structural reasoning filtered through cultural context.1314## Routing Table1516| Trigger | Route To | Notes |17|---|---|---|18| Questions about why certain pairings work or fail (structure, chemistry) | pairing-science | Foundational principles, molecular logic |19| Cuisine-specific pairing questions (French, Italian, Japanese, etc.) | cuisine-pairing | Regional traditions and cuisine-level logic |20| "What wine goes with X?" / specific dish pairing requests | pairing-engine | Action skill — generates recommendations |21| Dish + specific wine already selected (reverse pairing) | pairing-engine | Accepts wine-first inputs |22| Pairing requires evaluating a specific bottle's quality or faults | Escalate to tasting-evaluation | Out of scope for food-pairing suite |2324## Multi-Skill Scenarios2526### "What pairs with lamb tagine?"27- **pairing-engine** leads: runs the structural analysis and generates recommendations28- **cuisine-pairing** supports: provides Middle Eastern cuisine context (aromatic spice profile, sweet-savory balance, regional grape traditions like Syrah/Grenache/Rioja)29- Sequence: cuisine-pairing informs the context, pairing-engine generates the final output3031### "Why doesn't asparagus pair with wine?"32- **pairing-science** handles solo: sulfur compound explanation (S-methyl thioacetate, methanethiol), which grape varieties share or bridge those compounds (Sauvignon Blanc, dry Riesling), and when to declare a pairing impractical33- No need for pairing-engine — this is a science question, not a recommendation request3435### "Build a wine list for an Italian dinner"36- **cuisine-pairing** leads: course-by-course Italian framework (antipasto → primi → secondi → dolci)37- **pairing-engine** supports: generates specific recommendations at multiple price tiers for each course38- Sequence: cuisine-pairing defines the structure, pairing-engine populates the selections3940## Curriculum Order41Learning should follow this sequence — each layer depends on the one before it:42431. **pairing-science** (structural principles first): the five axes (acidity, tannin, sweetness, body, oak), the decision framework, difficult foods. Without this, pairing advice is memorization without understanding.442. **cuisine-pairing** (apply principles to real traditions): how structural logic explains why regional pairings evolved the way they did. French, Italian, Japanese, Indian, etc.453. **pairing-engine** (generate real recommendations): apply everything learned above to actual dishes. This is the output layer.4647## Conflict Resolution48When **regional tradition conflicts with structural rules** (e.g., Italian white fish served with local Sangiovese — traditional, but tannin-on-delicate-fish is structurally challenging):49- Present both perspectives explicitly: "Structurally, the tannin in Sangiovese creates a metallic interaction with delicate white fish. However, this pairing exists for a reason — lower-tannin, high-acid Sangiovese (Chianti Classico at the lighter end) reduces the friction, and the regional context often includes olive oil and tomato that buffer the interaction."50- Do not arbitrarily prefer one over the other. Structure explains, tradition contextualizes.51- Default: offer both the structurally optimal choice and the traditional choice, with explanations for each.5253## Scope Boundaries54- **In scope:** any question about pairing wine with food — from molecular structure to specific restaurant dish recommendations55- **Escalate to tasting-evaluation if:** the user is asking whether a specific wine they have in hand is good enough to serve, whether it has faults, or whether it has peaked — those questions require tasting evaluation before pairing advice applies56- **Does not cover:** wine storage, serving temperature (route to cellar-service), identifying grape varieties blind (route to deductive-method)
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