The Times today has recipes for three very different barbecues from top London chefs - Gordon Ramsay, Tristan Welch and Francesco Mazzei. So what wine - or other drinks should you pair with them?

It’s actually good to see chefs highlighting that barbecues need not always be the usual fare of bangers, burgers and chicken legs, all served with technicolor relishes and marinades. A barbecue is just a method of cooking like any other - it doesn’t dictate the food to be cooked so there’s no reason why, for example, you shouldn’t have a seafood barbecue, as Gordon does.

In terms of drinks, yes, the classic advice to go for wines with fresh fruity flavours still holds good but if you’re cooking some fine fish or more expensive meat cuts there’s no reason why you shouldn’t drink better quality ones.  Or other drinks. Beer and cider are naturals for barbecues as are mixed drinks like Pimms.

Gordon’s barbecue
Gordon Ramsay has picked two punchily flavoured fish dishes: grilled squid marinated in chilli and herb dressing and grilled pilchards with salsa verde / (along with burgers and onion relish for the kids so let’s assume the adults aren’t having those). I’d pick a zesty white with those - almost certainly a Sauvignon Blanc and a lightly chilled Loire red like a Chinon for those who can’t face a barbecue without red wine. (Not a perfect match with pilchards but barbecues are as much about mood as food)

Francesco’s barbecue
Francesco Mattei of L’Anima (one of London’s up and coming chefs), has chosen a more structured menu: swordfish agghiotta, a sweet and sour fish dish that can be served warm or cold, an interesting salad of asparagus, beans, quails eggs, tomatoes, cooked potatoes and cheese with a honey-mustard dressing, quail and n’duja (a Calabrian salami) with fregola (a couscous-like pasta) and grilled vegetable salad and a gorgeous, unbelievably simple strawberry soup with mascarpone. Not easy.

I’d probably go for a southern Italian or Sicilian white with the swordfish. Maybe a Fiano. They’re rather more characterful than Italy’s northern whites. Pinot Noir is a common match for quail but given the Mediterranean vegetable accompaniment I’d be more inclined to look to southern Italy again for my red (maybe a Negroamaro).

The dessert is tricky - as much lemon as strawberry - and I’m not sure you really need a wine with it but if you wanted a little something a well chilled shot of an Italian strawberry liqueur should work if you can get hold of one.

Tristan’s menu
Tristan Welch from Launceston Place has gone down a more conventional carnivorous route, setting the tone with hot smoked chicken with beer, a version of beer can chicken flavoured with herbs and a well seared ribeye steak cooked on stones. I would offer a choice of beer and red wine with this: an amber ale or lager like Anchor Liberty and an Australian or South African shiraz. The baked strawberries and rhubarb with cream and mint would go well with a late harvest Semilon or Sauvignon (or a blend of the two, obviously)