Moldavian wine, Wasserbrötchen and Vodka Ahoy! – unlocking hedonistic flavour combinations and remembering days gone by
Chianti again. Again?!
Yup, you guess it, I’m still not over the rusticity of a certain Italian red wine. And, given the headline you just read, nor am I over the accidental foodie holiday and food and wine pairing, so it’s time to explore this a little further.
You know ye olde saying what grows together goes together when it comes to food and drink pairing? Some classic combinations such as French Champagne and fresh strawberries, Weißwurst[i] and Weizen, Golden Ale and Scampi Fries or scrumpy cider and sausage rolls, might come to mind. You might even get that old chestnut of white wine for white meats and red wine for red meats thrown around.
Pancakes, streaky bacon and maple syrup anyone? Peanut Butter and Jelly? Vanilla milkshake and French Fries? Or maybe watermelon and Feta cheese? Apfelwein and Rippchen[ii]? Steak and blueberries? Cranberry sauce and melted brie. Apple and forest fruit ciders? Lager and lime? Dessert Stouts brewed with donuts? Waldmeister[iii] Gose? Fruit cake with Cheshire cheese? The possibilities are endless.
As a child, my favourite flavour combination, without a doubt, was bakery fresh Wasserbrötchen[iv] with chocolate and hazelnut spread and cooked ham. A close runner up was strawberry jam and Emmental cheese on equally fresh, still oven warm, farmhouse bread. Third place went to salami and pickled gherkins with ketchup.
I’ve always loved food, and the way it could create emotions and pure pleasure. My baby sis is the opposite: she eats for sustenance, not pleasure. It’s just part of being alive. Her first born is a different breed though: I’ve just watched a video of my niece feeding herself for the first time. She is definitely family, as you can see the joy in her eyes when she eats. She savours her meal, which takes centre stage. And if she can find bliss in plain yogurt, the world is her oyster.
My first wine and food pairing was a Moldavian sweet red with extra dark chocolate. Like the pivotal role Das ist Techno Sex played in my craft beer drinking, this curvy bottle of Bostavan Black Doktor Rosu Dolce started my curiosity into wine. And for a very long time, amidst countless pleas from the husband, this was the only wine I would actually enjoy.
Last weekend, the husband and I had a Full English[v] with a bottle of dry Riesling for dinner. Times have changed indeed. Spicy chorizo, hearty pork sausage and fried eggs, accompanied by a bright elegance hollering with tart green apples, lemon zest and steely minerality. It was heaven.
Food has been paired with drinks for eons. We do it without even thinking about it – whether you dunk your croissants into your full-bodied low acidity coffee or let a Rich Tea soften in your morning cuppa, you have a preference and know what you like and dislike.
Prefer black pepper on your strawberries over whipped cream? Mushy peas over garden peas with you fish and chips? There you go. However, bring up the what wine/beer/cider with what food question, and subtle to full blown embarrassment on one end, or overly cocky assurance on the other seems to creep into the conversation. I mean, can anyone blame us, we are literally bombarded with articles written by food writers, wine experts or cider critics proclaiming this is best served with that, don’t pair that with this and enjoy this with that, your taste buds will thank you later. There are podcasts, Insta Lives and TikToks, books and magazine articles, notes on bottle labels and supermarket shelves, and Karen from Accounting and Terry from Sales know best anyway and will let you know.
Sommeliers, Pommeliers and Cicerones have sniffed and sipped their way through blind tastings, drunk copious amount of their choosen beverages and have studied food and drink pairings. Does this make them qualified to tell us mortals what should be consumed with what? [vi]
On our accidental foodie holiday to the south-west of England, we spoke with a legendary French chef, who not only knew what he was talking about, he also lived his truth, both in his physique and look on life. He recalled a previous experience in a top-notch restaurant while serving us yet another excellent three course breakfast:
French chef: “I’d like a bottle of the 2015 red Bordeaux please.”
Sommelier: “Sorry Sir, we don’t recommend that with the halibut. May I suggest the …”
This little exchange seemed to push him towards the edge: If I am dropping £200 on a bottle of wine, I can damn well enjoy it the way I please, he said to us.
French chef: “Thanks, but I would like the red, and serve it with an ice cube in it”
Damn right! Tell those snobs!
Away with the Spirits
I’m not one for drinking spirits, other than my occasional Kümmel, Underberg or Jägermeister – excellent digestif by the way.
My Alcopop pink-stained Millennial heart would, and perhaps could, only drink those rum based sugar bombs, because I could not taste the alcohol, and actual cocktails with real ingredients were not really à la mode.
But then there is Vodka. Or Wodka, whichever you prefer. Vodka is one of those spirits that tastes of, well, not much actually. It is fairly neutral really, like spicy, briny water. Hence it pairs perfectly well with anything you can throw at it, from orange or cranberry juice to fresh cream, ginger beer or mint liqueur. Oh, and of course Ahoy Brause. Cue visible shudders from the husband.
Ahoy Brause is German sherbet powder which comes in four colours which correspond to lemon, orange, raspberry and woodruff flavour.
The beverage treasure of my childhood, a sachet of the green Waldmeister powder mixed with water would create this gorgeously Absinthe coloured fizzy drink, which glowed and never seemed to last long. I wasn’t too fuzzed on the red, orange or yellow stuff, unless you mixed them together, but even then, they were nothing to write home about. Good, but not special.
Fast forward several years, to a time when the husband was still the boyfriend, but everyone was of legal drinking age, and the husband-then-boyfriend was introduced to Vodka Ahoy! Cue more visible shudders.
The idea is simple: you rip open a sachet of the sherbet flavour you fancy[vii], pour the powder directly into your mouth, take a shot of vodka thereby mixing it with the alcohol, and before you swallow you shout Ahoy! As it’s sherbet, it starts to fizz once in contact with the vodka and you look like you’re Regan from the Exorcist, foaming from the mouth in bright hues of red, yellow, orange or green. Alcohol poisoning optional.
Nonetheless, this bland fiery liquid pairs well with the sugary sweet and sour character of the sherbet, I give you that.
A Generic Meal
If you have concluded by now, that I don’t really care much for those prescribed food and drink pairings, you are right, I don’t.
Like the French chef, if I want an ice cube in my rare red wine, I will have it. If I fancy an impy stout with my Greek Salad, so be it.
But, given that not everyone might see the world like me, and having been trained in the realms of cider and it’s possibility to accompany various foods, it might be useful to remind ourselves of some basic food and drink matching characteristics.
The first rule of food and drink pairing is: you do not talk about food and drink pairing.
Jokes aside, I thought we had established that Germans do understand jokes – sometimes… The first rule is: Trust your palate – you know what you like and dislike.
Good, moving on. We are a generic customer in a restaurant ready to enjoy some food and drink.
So, let’s say you are starting with small Caesar Salad – creamy dressing, salty anchovies and grilled chicken, sprinkled with fatty bacon bits. This flavour combination requires some zesty fruit and acidity to break through, so a full-bodied Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc would play nicely. Or a light-bodied red, like a Beaujolais perhaps. Or, go all out and pop the Champagne. If bubbles are your thing but want lower ABVs go for beer like a Kölsch which will suck up to the brininess of the dish in no time (German’s do love their salty foods!). In the mood for apples: choose a cider higher in acid like a S.V. Granny Smith or Asturian cider to leave your palate refreshed and ready for the main course.
Round two is a cheeseburger – umami galore with fatty and salty meat, creamy cheese and tomato relish bursting with fresh acidity, with a side of French Fries. We need something that can break through all this, so pop a bittersweet S.V. Dabinett cider – full, smooth, tannic character, with enough zing to match the tomatoes, and sweetness to balanced everything out. On the beer front, choose an IPA – hoppy citrus notes to match the relish, bubbles to clear the fatty sensation and bitterness to keep everything fresh. Or pop the cork on a Spanish Brut Cava – its acidity will take of the greasy fatty nature and the bubbles will marry with the salty crispy fries to create the prefect pairing.
Finishing with something sweet, carrot cake with citrussy frosting or red berry pavlova anyone?! Here, a full-bodied beer like a hop-forward DIPA would play nice with the citrus in the carrot cake frosting. And if the red berries, thick cream and gooey mess that is a pavlova is your thing, a full bodied Imperial Stout with rich its dark fruit and brown sugar notes will have the matching decadence needed, providing the required oomph! to match the dessert’s weight.
Fermented apples and /or grapes in your glass? A general rule of thumb would be to match the food with a wine or cider that is sweeter than the dessert itself, so the drink isn’t experienced as thin or appears overpowered. Ice Cider from Canada or Sweden, Sauternes from France or Hungarian Tokaji.
Feeling cheesy? Enjoy fresh and soft cheese with Champagne, a dry Riesling, a Beaujolais or maybe a French Saison. Medium to hard cheeses work rather well with Vintage Port, an off-dry Riesling, a Pinot Noir, German Bock or a West Counties Cider. Blue cheeses play well with Tawny port or Barley Wine. Aged cheeses benefit from paring with a Red Port, a sweet Riesling, an East Counties Cider or a hop-forward DIPA.
And, if I haven’t lost you yet and you are still reading and following along, forget all the suggestions above and try different foods with different drinks. Go shopping and pair to your heart’s content!
And me? I’m off to pair some salty ham and sweet nutty chocolate spread with some Chianti now, in hopes to finally discover the elusive rusticity.
Bon appétit, Guten and have fun with your food
xxx
[i] This is a traditional Bavarian sausage made from minced veal and pork back bacon, with a somewhat questionable consistency I might add. This is usually served with a sweet mustard.
[ii] Traditional dish from Hessen, which consists of prepared cured pork cutlets, often served with Sauerkraut
[iii] Waldmeister is another flavour I will forever associate with my childhood. It translates to woodruff in English and tastes sweet and minty, with some vanilla and blackberry thrown in – you have to try it to know.
[iv] Bread rolls made with water, as opposed to Milchbrötchen which are made with milk.
[v] NB Albeit minus the baked beans. We had run out somehow… the husband suspects the cans to be stolen…
[vi] Trick question, but I shall excuse myself from answering.
[vii] Good luck with finding the Waldmeister ones, they are already in my possession!
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