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In our world, there are some people who simply eat and drink to survive, and then there are others who find themselves on this page, wanting to know about the fine art of food pairing. On the other hand, the unenthusiastic are bound to be outraged with the big deal made out of nothingness. After all, don’t you just have to eat what you like and drink what you like?

Well, yes. But let’s consider for instance if you’ve wondered why certain wedding cakes have a distinct mulch-esque taste to it? Have you ever wondered if the champagne that you drank with it could have clashed with the cake’s flavor? Indeed it could have. Deceptive pairings like this one can assault your palate with their not-meant-to-go-together tastes. What results is an aversion to two seriously likable food and drink items, albeit not together. And this is exactly what brings us to the divine concept of food pairing, because when deliciousness is at stake, everyone stands up and takes notice.

Having said this, I must concede that subjectivity has a huge role to play when it comes to pairing food with the right drink. So, be open to experiment and go wild choosing the combination that you think is the best. Yes, we’re all aware of the basics of pairing, but a little attention to detail is what elevates a good meal to a heavenly one.

The Classic Pairs

RED WINE Beef When you have a wine that drowns your senses in the spicy, rich taste of black currants, you need an accompaniment that matches its headiness. A beef steak fits the bill almost perfectly, and so do braised short ribs. Cheese As an ode to the strong flavor of, let’s say the Cabernet Sauvignon, the best cheese would be the equally formidable brie, camembert, strong cheddar or Danish blue. Always remember to match the richness of the wine to the cheese. Turkey Very few things in this world can match the homeliness of the Thanksgiving roast turkey and a light red like the Beaujolais or even the Pinot Noir. These fruity reds compliment the herb-laden stuffing of the turkey like nothing else.

WHITE WINE Cream Sauce Pasta It really pays off well to match your food with your drink in terms of the color. Pair your creamy, melt-in-the-mouth shellfish pasta with a Chardonnay, and you’ll understand this better. Oysters Oysters make for an excellent starter, and the Pinot Blanc will bring out its taste really well. While we’re discussing starters, crab cakes are a very good option to pair with a Light Sauvignon Blanc. Caviar As far as legendary food and drink pairings go, champagne and caviar top the list. While we may not always have access to a bottle of Dom Pérignon and a serving of Beluga caviar, do remember to pick a dry champagne to go with caviar, and raise a toast to champagne wishes and caviar dreams!

BEER Pizza The beer and pizza combination might be offensively unhealthy, but it doesn’t make any difference to its royal fans. If there’s anything that makes this combination taste better, it’s a football match on ESPN. Nachos Nachos, with their cheesy, salty taste pair well with a golden ale beer and are easy to include in any party menu. As a matter of fact, the nachos can easily be replaced by anything that’s deep-fried and salty. Barbecue Barbecue and beer are perpetual summer specials when the sweltering heat of the day gives way to breezy evenings. This is one combination you can never go wrong with, though everyone has their favorite, barbecued meats taste better with pale ales.

The Cocktail Pairs

VODKATINI … .. With Shashlik One usually thinks of pairing cheese crackers with a regular martini, but since we’re speaking of its Russian variant, its appropriate partner is the shashlik. Shashlik is a Russian spin on barbecue, so it won’t be too nice to wash it down with anything except vodka.

MARGARITA … .. With Mexican Food Being Mexican, what else would they taste best with except Mexican food? So bring on the crudités, tortillas and tacos, make a pitcher full of margarita, and don’t forget the salsa dip! It’s a great way to spend an evening with friends.

NEW FASHIONED … .. With Pork Ribs The New Fashioned cocktail is whiskey-based, which tastes best with pork ribs. But make sure that the ribs are not soaked in spice-laden sauces, as that messes the taste of the whiskey. Always keep the meat simple, and relish!

The Best-loved Pairs

	Milk and Oreos
	Yes, milk’s favorite cookie also ranks high on everyone’s preferences. And how could it possibly not? A glass of cold milk, a stack of chocolaty oreo cookies; you can’t ask for a better midnight snack, especially when you’ve run out of ice cream!

Cherry Coke and Burger
What could be termed as a potential catastrophe for your arteries has to taste divine; just like this cherry coke and burger combo. Why the cherry coke, you ask? That’s because it works well for me! Feel free to pick your favorite cola to go with your favored burger.

	Afternoon Tea
	Quintessentially British, this custom deserves a mention due to its sheer elaborateness and the fact that it’s slowly disappearing out of our lives. Cucumber or smoked salmon sandwiches, scones with cream and jam, fruit cakes and finally, cream tea … ah! A taste of the good life!

Coffee and Cakes
Coffee and cakes have a charm of their own, and we need to be reminded of it as we usually tend to have our coffee on the run. In fact, the practice of takeaway coffee must be discouraged to let people meet and greet over a hot cup of coffee and a plate of cakes accompanied by some juicy gossip.

	Orange Juice and Oatmeal
	This one’s for the health freaks, and come to think of it, the sinners too. This is one combination that has the power to save you from that quadruple bypass surgery, if you’ve made a habit of consuming all the combos mentioned above with regularity, although it is sure to make your taste buds rebel.

It was Mark Twain who said, “The only way to keep your health is to eat what you don’t want, drink what you don’t like, and do what you’d rather not.” Most of the food and drinks mentioned here are categorized as sinfully unhealthy, but there are certain healthy fast food drinks out there, as are nutritious meals. All you need to do is, to reserve the ones mentioned here for special occasions and eat healthy otherwise. Bon appetit!

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Justice, a number of U.S. states, and authorities in several other countries announced that they were filing lawsuits against Apple and six book publishers, alleging anticompetitive behavior in shifting to an Apple-backed agency model in which publishers set retail pricing and retailers such as Apple receive a 30% commission on the sales price.

Rather than settling the case as several of the publishers have opted to do, Apple has stood firm in its stance that the move did not represent collusion and price fixing but instead served as a way to give publishers control over pricing and break up Amazon’s near-monopoly in the e-book market.

Former Wall Street Journal publisher and Press+ founder Gordon Crovitz published a column over the weekend outlining how Apple’s plan for a 30% commission on publishers’ sales is merely its standard business practice, not any sort of collusion to fix prices in the market.

‘I don’t think you understand. We can’t treat newspapers or magazines any differently than we treat FarmVille.”

With those words, senior Apple executive Eddy Cue stuck to his take-it-or-leave-it business model of a 30% revenue share payable for transactions through the iTunes service. Despite my arguments to Mr. Cue in Apple’s Cupertino, Calif., offices last year on behalf of news publishers seeking different terms, to him there was no difference between a newspaper and an online game.

It was a sobering reminder that traditional media brands have no preferred place in the new digital world. It also should be the defense’s Exhibit A in the Justice Department’s antitrust case against Apple and book publishers: The 30% revenue-share model is Apple’s standard practice, not, as alleged by the government, the product of a conspiracy.

Crovitz goes on to outline how the U.S. government’s case against Apple and the publishers is misguided, with the agency model having been validated in numerous other industries by federal courts. And with the model looking exactly like that used for apps and other iTunes Store content, it suggests that Apple is not trying to accomplish anything special to gain control of the e-book market.

In fact, Crovitz notes that the e-book market has become significantly healthier since Apple’s agency model was adopted by the major publishers.

Over the past couple of years, thanks to the agency model, the Kindle’s market share has fallen to 60% [from 90% previously] thanks to competition from iPads and Barnes & Noble Nooks, and there is more variation in consumer prices, typically ranging from $ 5.95 to $ 14.95.

Pricing flexibility for publishers is necessary to allow innovation. Why shouldn’t some e-books cost 99 cents and others that come with video and hardcover editions be $ 49.95? Why not give people the option to pay 10% more to access an e-book on all e-readers? Consumers should decide, not Amazon or the Antitrust Division.

With settlements already looking at unwinding the agency model to allow Amazon to once again begin controlling the e-book market by leveraging its consistent $ 9.99 pricing to drive competitors out of business, investors have become increasingly skittish about Barnes & Noble and other retailers trying to stake out their positions in the market. Consequently, there are real fears among authors, publishers, and retailers that the federal government’s efforts are working quickly to restore an Amazon monopoly capable of bringing down its competitors.

Judging from the advertisements that line our email, all that women are attracted to are quick-fix facials, designer handbags for less or tarot card predictions. However inaccurate/accurate that might be, we also love walking in the rain, sunsets on a beach, chocolate fudge sundae for lunch, Roman Holiday, heritage structures, Pinterest, and hand-tossed pizzas. Then there is stock trading, Top Gear, politeness, Discovery Channel, a good read on a summer afternoon … you see, one of the best things about being a woman is not feeling the pressure of bowing to stereotypes, unlike men. If a woman’s fascination with vintage clothing is classy, so are her smooth skills at changing car tires. Right now though, let’s just look at the regular delights.

Women and Shopping
	With women, things are obviously far from obvious, and when one has to talk about what attracts them, it doesn’t veer very far from the S-word. Yes, even a slight mention of shopping can have the most tired woman reach out for her bag, and they’re out and about in a jiffy. Although there are a few women who go to great lengths to avoid it like the plague, most of them can happily run through a week of boss-bestowed insults or unceremonious breakups, only on the hope of a weekend shopping spree. To those of you who question the forever-lasting novelty of shopping, here’s the scientific dope – femdome’s obsession with the S-word is actually a relic of the bygone era when the men used to be hunters and the women were foragers. Chemically speaking, shopping releases the very wonderful dopamine in the female brain that gives them a real high, akin to, well, a real high.

Women and Shoes
	What is it with women and their crazy ambition to own a gazillion pairs of shoes? It would really be too easy to blame this obsession on Cinderella, but then let’s just examine what we have here, shall we? So, you slide your foot in it, the smooth satin lining inside caressing your foot as you do so. It fits you like a second skin, elevates you, and lends you that alluring strut. What’s more, it beautifies you in about five seconds, and never makes you look fat. These instant mood elevators are individually crafted for every woman, and have the power to make or break any outfit, designer or not. They can be conversation starters, inspire fetishes, and are femininity boosters. And to top it all, they can be used as weapons to shoo away unwanted attention. Has all the above satisfactorily answered your question?

Women and Makeup
	This one’s easy. Makeup is that one magical thing which quite literally holds the power to transform a woman; whether the transformation is for better or worse can be discussed on another day. To the uninitiated, makeup can simply be overwhelming. If you have to work hard to wear makeup that makes you look glamorous, you work twice as hard to wear makeup that gives you a makeup-free look. While the advocates of the natural look can have the luxury of reading the paper every morning, the wand brandishing divas are furiously donning layers of paint in order to get bigger eyes/shapely noses/sculpted cheeks, and what have you. Be it men or women, the quest for looking good has been imbibed into the human psyche quite naturally. And this is really the reason why women should never justify their need for anything that makes them look nice, be it insect venom facials or fish pedicures.

Women and Clothing
	Female vanity works in mysterious ways. Stereotypes force us to believe that the female mind feels that she can never have enough LBDs/skinny or boyfriend pants. On investigating further, one feels hard-pressed to know why the men never have to justify their obsession with cars or gadgets. But the mere mention of a woman who skips dinner for a month to buy that Hermès scarf she so desires, raises instant outrage. Coming back to women’s clothing fixation, you could connect this with the pleasurable act of preening and the desire to look good. Blame it on self-gratification, or on the desire to be noticed, flattering attire is what does it for women. On the other hand, for every woman who’s clueless about statement skirts and structured jackets, there will be another who will have these in teal and jade, with separate accessories to match for each. It really goes without saying that every woman is different, and to classify them all as clothes hoarding loonies would be asinine.

Women and Jewelry
	Ah! It would be a crime not to mention Marilyn Monroe’s declaration about women’s special friendship with diamonds right at the beginning, and the rest will be self-explanatory. Not trying to cut down on words here, but is there anything else which explains a woman’s fascination with sparklers more than this song from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes? Going further, nothing screams status for a woman other than these stones. And this is the weapon they choose to elevate their status among other women; not the Gucci handbag, not the Vivienne Westwood dress, not the Jimmy Choos on her feet. Showing off is a joy we are all familiar with, gender notwithstanding. Guys, think of it as “my Aston Martin One-77″ against “your Ferrari Enzo”, and you’ll get the picture.

Women and Men
	Okay, let me just say it. What choice do women have? Women getting attracted to men is a major natural order, and let’s stop being nasty about the hunter clan and look at reasons other than natural. Well, umm …, there must be a few reasons. I’m sure there ought to be some reasons. Oh, right, here they are – some women choose to blame a man’s attractiveness on those fluctuating hormones, while the more serious ones claim temporary insanity. Alright, seriously, it’s so hard to pinpoint the qualities that women find striking in a man. It could range from pheromones to facial hair (eeew, I know, but it’s true), from kindness to vulnerability, from salaries to inheritance, from commitment desires to openness … it is impossible to generalize. To summarize, it isn’t really a good idea to break down and dissect what is really a beautiful and natural process called ‘attraction’.

When we are asked to speak of what attracts us, we usually tend to fall headfirst into the generalization trap. For scores of women who would nod in agreement to every obsession mentioned here, there will be a whole other lot turning their noses away from it. As a woman or a man, it all comes down to realizing where our happiness lies, and pursuing it without any traces of inhibition.