Food and Wine Pairings

[sadistick]

I guess I don't see the point in using a beet stock for a beet risotto. It will end up tasting like a plate of mushy beets. Use a veggie stock for the cooking process and add the beet "essence" at the end when you mount it with a little butter. Ditch the pecorino idea and mount the risotto with marscarpone in place of the butter.

Suggest a white - Maybe an Albarino or Gavi? Reds? Dolcetto is a great choice or a Barbera (Pio Cesare?)

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Gordon, it definetly wont end up tasting like a plate of mushy beets, at least not if I'm cooking it

If you use a reduced liquid which is strained properly, that will give an intense beet flavour to the risotto...adding a 'essence' of beet at the end will not achieve as strong a flavour, trust me.

I have done it this way for tomato risotto as well as mushroom - make a well flavoured liquid and use that as the cooking liquid, and it comes out amazing each time.

Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I have won a few risotto competitions in the past, so this method is tried tested and true.

Oh, and no marscapone will ever come near any of my risotto's

I actually have a Pio Cesare barbera...but its only a 98 and I wanted to hold on to it for a few more years...I am thinking a lighter fruity pinot at this point.

[Brad Ballinger]

I actually have a Pio Cesare barbera...but its only a 98 and I wanted to hold on to it for a few more years...I am thinking a lighter fruity pinot at this point.

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Should be delicious right now, I'd think.

[GordonCooks]

I actually have a Pio Cesare barbera...but its only a 98 and I wanted to hold on to it for a few more years...I am thinking a lighter fruity pinot at this point.

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Should be delicious right now, I'd think.

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Even if it's Barbera D'Alba - it's ready to go. I guess I enjoy nice roasted beets but not enough to showcase them - even a world cup risotto.

[Craig Camp]

A younger pecorinno would contrast the sweetness of the beets quite well actually.  Especially when its a blend of cheese and not all that much pec.

You just made every Italian reading this cringe. I'd have to disagree on that. A good pecorino is too pungent. Of course, the industrial version is almost flavorless so that would not be a problem.

[Craig Camp]

I actually have a Pio Cesare barbera...but its only a 98 and I wanted to hold on to it for a few more years...I am thinking a lighter fruity pinot at this point.

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Why would you want to do that? A regular Pio Cesare Barbera could be past its prime at this point. They certainly don't make it with aging in mind. This kind of barbera is all about the fruit - not about bottle age.

[Craig Camp]

Before scrolling down to see Craig's reply, the first word to my mind was Dolcetto.  FWIW.

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Pinot nut that I am, I still see this as the best idea. An Einaudi would be excellent.

[sadistick]

I made a mistake, its a barbaresco...i BELIEVE its called Il Brico...not 100% sure, that may be one of the other barbaresco's

[Craig Camp]

I made a mistake, its a barbaresco...i BELIEVE its called Il Brico...not 100% sure, that may be one of the other barbaresco's

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Indeed that's a wine of a different color. No hurry to drink that.

[LOS]

Bourgogne!

[Nishla]

We had another nice pairing tonight:

2003 Seghesio Sonoma Zinfandel (on sale for $15) with short ribs. The ribs were cooked with spices like cinnamon, clove and star anise, which went great with the spiciness of the wine. The fruit and oak in the zinfandel also stood up really well to the fatty cut of meat.

[sadistick]

The risotto was very good, only possible improvement would be to get a even stronger beet flavour, will have to reduce the liquid moreso next time.

Had a NCT Pinot with it, went very well.

[Eilen]

Nishla,

Just wanted to say what a great idea! I know next to nothing about wine, so I'll subscribe to your thread just for pointers on wine and food pairing. Carry on!

Eilen

[Susan in FL]

I don't have much detail in my memory about the flavors, but I thought this pairing was a surprise worthy of note. One afternoon recently I went to a restaurant that has fairly good wine and beer selections, and they make recommendations for pairings. I ordered a cup of the shrimp bisque which is rich and creamy and slightly spicy. I didn't have my brain in gear to make my own choice of what wine to drink, so I asked for the waiter's recommendation, and when he suggested a blend of pinot grigio and chardonnay, I really wondered. I could imagine chardonnay, but dry pinot grigio threw me. It matched up well!

I really like the Seghesio Zinfandels I've had. That pairing sounds good.

[jeffperez62]

It's funny you mentioned beet risotto. In last the NY Times 2 weeks ago they reviewed Felidia in N.Y. and raved about a beet risotto with Humboldt Fog Goat Cheese and Balsamico Tradizionale. What a combo!

[Nishla]

Pinot grigio/chadonnay and shrimp bisque does sound interesting.

We also had a new pairing last night at Marco, a small restaurant in Boston's North End:

Isola dei Nuraghi Costera 2004, from Sardinia. 100% cannonau grape (which I had never heard of, and is apparently the local form of Grenache). The wine was pretty full-bodied, with dark berry fruit and some earthy/dried herb flavors. It went very well with a spicy sausage/broccoli rabe pasta, as well as a grilled meat plate (flank steak, sausage and balsamic chicken). It kind of overwhelmed our appetizer of arancini, fried mozzerella and fried salmon fritters.

[Nishla]

I have an interesting one this time...at least I think it's interesting since I learned something.

The wine: 2004 Falesco Est! Est! Est! di Montefiascone ($11). This is a light, crisp Italian white, with citrus and mineral flavors. I'd had it before with light fish dishes and salads with good success.

The food:

Attempt 1--Salad of arugula, red peppers, goat cheese, and a honey-lime dressing. This pairing was absolutely horrible...one of the worst mistakes I've made. The honey in the dressing made the wine taste sour instead of pleasantly acidic, and the wine made the arugula intensely bitter. Gak

Attempt 2--A few days later, I had the rest of the bottle with a fennel salad simply dressed with salt, pepper, olive oil, lemon juice and shaved parmesan. This time, the lemon and wine got along nicely, and worked together to bring out the sweetness of the fennel. The wine also tasted like it's supposed to, instead of like sour water. Yum

[Nishla]

A couple more from the past week:

1. Olive oil-poached wild salmon with tomato cucumber salad, served with the E. Guigal Cotes du Rhone Rose 2003. Not a spectacular pairing, but certainly servicable. The light berry flavors from the rose were good with the freshness of the salad, and the salmon definitely remained the highlight.

2. Buttercup squash/sausage/goat cheese pizza with Neyers Merlot Napa Valley 2000. This was another decent but not great pairing. The plummy fruit of the merlot balanced the sweetness of the squash and the meatiness of the sausage. This particular wine was ridiculously high in alcohol (14.7% ), so I'd definitely pick something a bit more subtle next time.

[tammylc]

Great idea for a thread! I'm surprised you're practically the only person posting to it so far, so I'll add one. A couple weeks ago I made a pork chop dish with smoked paprika, sherry vinegar, tomatoes, potatoes and whole peeled shallots. At my wine seller's recommendation I bought a Porteguese wine to go with: Escanção Dão Reserva 2001.

Made from the same grapes as port, this Portuguese red wine opens with lots of the fruit flavors you get from a ruby port. But instead of turning sweet and alcoholic on the finish, it's fully dry, with a great acid backbone, making it a great food wine. It matched the big flavors of the pork blow for blow, without overwhelming them. It was just as good the second night with ratatouille and lamb. And at $10 a bottle, it's an absolute bargain! I'll definitely be buying a few bottles to have on hand - I think it's one of those wines that will go with nearly everything.

[katmandude]

Recently I purchased a glass of Telmo Rodregiuz Almuvedre Monastrell 2004 whilst at a wine bar along with some tapas (sardines with shaved fennel and something else that I cannot quite remember, along with frites served with a perfect garlicky mayonnaise). The tapas was good, but the Monastrell blew my mind. For me, it was the perfect 'middle of the afternoon/day not too hot/day not too cold' red wine.

The next week I sourced some bottles of said wine on the net, as it's quite a difficult grape variety to find in Melbourne (we who prefer our often way too large Aussie reds) and purchased a case at A$20 a bottle (a bargain, the wine is simply fantastic for a softer red)

A couple of nights later, when I had the opportunity to open a bottle, I made the mistake of drinking this with a wonderful paella which I had made. Maybe my paella was too spicey (I do tend to go overboard with the spices which I love) as it really did seem to overpower the red. The next night I finished the rest of the bottle with a more simple chicken dish, can't remember what was with the chicken.

This was much more appropriate, and the soft features of the monastrell shone through a little better.

I'm quite new to this grape variety and still have a case at home. Is there anyone out there who has a thing for monastrell who could perhaps point me in the right direction of what to eat with it. Any help appreciated.

[ludja]

This is a great idea for a thread. I'll be sure to add any good pairings I come across.

Do people think it would be a good idea to start each post with one line for the wine and one line with a brief description of the dish?

These two lines could then be followed by any further description and discussion.

I suggest it because I found myself searching a bit in each post to determine the wine/food pairing combination.

Example for tammylc's post:

Escanção Dão Reserva 2001.

Pork chop dish with smoked paprika, sherry vinegar, tomatoes, potatoes and whole peeled shallots

Made from the same grapes as port, ...

(Thanks for mentioning that Dao wine, tammylc. I first tasted one of these this summer also thought it was quite good. I need to keep an eye out and buy some. Thanks for your specific rec.)

Edited September 26, 2006 by ludja (log)

[tammylc]

I like ludja's format suggestion.

[Nishla]

Ludja, great suggestion. I'm in the middle of cooking dinner right now, so hopefully I'll have something good to post later

katmandude, I've generally found spicy food and reds to be terrible pairings (with a few exceptions). I wonder if that wine would work with a simply prepared steak, maybe grilled or pan seared with a sauce using the wine--something meaty to play off the fruit flavors. Maybe a pork chop would work too.

I'm really glad you guys are interested in this topic!

[Nishla]

Wines:

2001 Domaine Zind Humbrecht Herrenweg de Turckheim Pinot Gris (~$20 in bin ends)

2005 Dr. Loosen "L" Riesling

Food:

Curried buttercup squash/cauliflower soup with ginger, garlic, cumin, coriander, tumeric and yogurt, topped with shrimp.

The curry flavor in this soup was fairly mild, but the spices were definitely noticable, and the yogurt added some nice tanginess. The Pinot Gris was really good on its own, with mineral, honey, petrol and peach flavors. The wine and soup together were okay, but neither made the other better, so I figured I'd save the rest of the wine for tomorrow.

I remembered that I had an opened bottle of the Dr. Loosen from the other day, so I gave it a try. This wine is much less complex than the Pinot Gris, and has more pronounced citrus notes. This was really great with the curry spices, and brought out the sweetness of the squash.

I've noticed that in many cases, a wine with a lot of complexity tends to lose something when paired with food. So far my favorite wines for food pairing are more simple, which is fine with me since they're usually cheaper The Dr. Loosen is one of my all time favorites.

[Carolyn Tillie]

A lovely mushroom ravioli with a creamy mushroom sauce, redolent with herbs and a touch of all our leftover cheeses (small bits of Compte, Reggiano, Parrano, and who knows what else...) paired with a 2003 Gundlach Bundschu Rhinefarm Pinot Noir.

Perfect - the wine is slightly dry with cherries, herbs, and great structure. The mushroom sauce and ravioli were amazing.

[katmandude]

Ludja, great suggestion. I'm in the middle of cooking dinner right now, so hopefully I'll have something good to post later 

katmandude, I've generally found spicy food and reds to be terrible pairings (with a few exceptions). I wonder if that wine would work with a simply prepared steak, maybe grilled or pan seared with a sauce using the wine--something meaty to play off the fruit flavors. Maybe a pork chop would work too.

I'm really glad you guys are interested in this topic!

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Thanks Nishla. I'll certainly consider that next time I reach for the Monastrall.

lovin' the thread....