Food and drinks are a part of our life and a combination of both can give the desired satisfaction, or displease. I stopped taking carbonated drink with Jollof rice since I was 16 and this was because it usually had this peppery, stinging taste on my tongue and when I asked people, I realized it wasn't only me. I started taking food with water alone since 2016 because I prefer my food with water while I can have the wine, carbonated drink, or juice when I was completely done with the food. Let me state that this is just my personal choice and I am not doing it as a result of a science research but talking about research, what does science say about combining certain food and drinks together.
I was at Ocean basket sometime ago and I remember having Oyster and Champagne. I must confess that it is one of the best combo I have ever had. It had this taste that was just satisfying, this umami taste. Why does this duo make one of the best of combo? That Umami savory part of the food which we taste when the compounds bind with our umami receptor and oyster combination with champagne have an umami synergy. Champagnes have glutamate although in low amount while oysters have glutamate and free nucleotide and this two chemicals boost the umami flavor in the tongue even after the oyster has been consumed.
If you are someone who likes Wine and Cheese, it means you have been enjoying a good combination for a very long time. I am not talking about Wara (Nigerian milk curd) sometimes I wonder how it meets the name cheese but we still refer to it as local cheese and it is lovely to eat. Now that said, Cheese and wines are a perfect match and science has its backing on the matter.
When it comes to white and red wines, we always talk about acidity and astringence where white wine is associated with acidity while red wine is associated with astringence. If you are having your cheese with red wine, science has shown that eating the cheese first before sipping the red wine can reduce the perceive astringency (dryness) of the wine but with scientific studies, it has shown that the fun and desired result is seen in how both are combined.
People have been able to rate the combination of these two depending on the amount that was placed in the mouth and based on a study in 2010, the Chardonnay and Tripple cream cheese was the perfect match and this was because the acidity of the wine (Chardonnay) could compliment the creaminess of the cheese.
Back to the jollof rice and carbonated drink. I didn't really see study on this, but the burning feel of the spicy food which I do not like being amplified on my tongue is what some people like as some would prefer an astringent wine with spicy food because it emphasizes the burning sensation of the food in their mouth.
You Can Study More
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7676262/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0963996920304889
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0963996920304889
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15378020.2010.524541
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0950329399000099
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1755-0238.2008.00043.x
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-77107-w
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7694415/
https://www.mdpi.com/2306-5710/3/3/40
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0308814620328557
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