cigars and food

Who knew..certainly not me! We have a new program on a local talk show. It is on Sunday mornings and is all about cigars. Now these two guys know their cigars. The do food matches and even match the wines. They discuss cigars much like we (or should I say "you":) discuss your wines. They talk about mouth feel, from the start to the finish, what foods to enjoy with your cigar and which wine. It is amazing to listen to them. So who among you do this? I think it is fascinating!

In 20-30 years, they'll be broadcasting a follow-on show - Liquid Foods and Cancer of the Mouth.

I will smoke a cigar every now and then and I enjoy them. I don't get the idea of pairing them with food or wine, though. For me, the tobacco flavor is usually way too strong and overwhelms anything I have along with them. Once in a while, I'll come across one that's mild enough to pair with bourbon or cognac, but I always have them after dinner and without food.

what foods to enjoy with your cigar

What kinds of food are they talking about? Is it fairly limited to certain kinds of snacks or does this pairing extend across the meal?!

I'll smoke a cigar once in a while and, imho, a cigar will ruin a nice wine, port and all food. The only pairing that I see to be enjoyable is with a nice rum or scotch.

Drew

what foods to enjoy with your cigar

What kinds of food are they talking about? Is it fairly limited to certain kinds of snacks or does this pairing extend across the meal?!

I really don't know. Here is an event I found with just a quick search on Google, however I did see other links to food, wine, beer, cigar events'
http://www.betterbeerblog.com/index.php/beer-and-food-pairing-events/lets-get-lit-beer-food-and-cigar-pairing-event/

I have had a few cigars in my day. For a few years I probably went through about 25 a year and then just stopped for no real reason. I still have a bunch of them. Cigars for me were never matched with food but were for after dinner. However, wine was almost always a match. Port is nice with the lighter cigars but is overwhelmed by the heavy smokes. What worked the best for me was inexpensive ice wine from the FL. Generally Vidal or Vignoles as it had the acidity and the sugar level to work with the cigar and made the cigar more interesting. How the cigar improved the wine is harder to explain but I did not really enjoy those wines without the cigar. Now that I think about it, I think I stopped smoking cigars when I ran out of those ice wines.

Indeed there are even "cigar dinners", at which cigars will be smoked not only after the dinner but between courses. I have always found such dinners a snobbish way of encouraging what is clearly a fad, even the mildest of cigars coming close to destroying the aromas and flavors of the dishes being served.

My own habit with cigars (on the average 5 a week) is well after dinner while relaxing, ideally on our small terrace, together with a glass of Armagnac, Cognac, Calvados or a generously peaty Single Malt Scotch.

Best
Rogov

I truly regret that cigars and single malts have become fodder for the yuppies. They were much more fun when you could just sit and enjoy them without arguing if one of the 6 wood treatments was best (of course in my day, there was only one anyway).

Cigars, like sex, are generally best enjoyed without addition of food, with a few notable exceptions...

As an asthmatic, whatever pleasures there may be in a good cigar are closed to me. Based on second-hand smoke, IMO I'm missing nothing at all, and I find it hard to believe that someone could have that overwhelming smell in their nose and still appreciate either good wine or good food. Certainly, from the perspective of those of us who involuntarily are forced to experience it second-hand, cigar smoke does nothing to enhance the gustatory experience of wine or food--quite the opposite.

-Paul W.

I truly regret that cigars and single malts have become fodder for the yuppies. They were much more fun when you could just sit and enjoy them without arguing if one of the 6 wood treatments was best (of course in my day, there was only one anyway).

Cigars, like sex, are generally best enjoyed without addition of food, with a few notable exceptions...

I'm not sure about cigars and whipped cream, but hey...to each his (or her) own.

As a constantly recovering former smoker who can't afford ever...ever...to touch any form of tobacco again---and even further, as a former smoker smoker who gets more and more susceptible to nausea and sinus agony with even the faintest whiff of smoke, I would never wish to attend a cigar and wine dinner.

And I would have to separate myself after dinner while Daniel stoked up his stogie with his cognac, alas.

However, I have no problem facilitating cigar and spirit/wine dinners, and have done so numerous times. I see no harm whatsoever in assisting people in doing what they enjoy doing. And I have even spoken at such affairs.

But I have leave my clothes in the laundry room for thorough cleaning, take a long shower and shampoo afterwards, and depend on sinus meds for a while, so I can't say I enjoy such dinners.

But hey, if I can be surpassingly geeky about wines and spirits and foods, then who am I to say that other people shouldn't be equally geeky about their cigars?