Top pairings

Wine, beer and other pairings with Mexican food

Posted by Fiona Beckett on May 5 2023 at 09:29

The thing you need to ask yourself when you’re wondering which wine - or other drink - to pair with Mexican food is what kind of Mexican. Authentic Mexican or Tex Mex?

If it’s the former you’ll need a wine that can handle the bright citrussy flavours. If it’s the cheese-laden latter you’d be be better off with a beer or robust red wine of which there are plenty made in Mexico these days though few make it to the UK.

It’s also a question of what type of Mexican meal - a few small sharing plates or a more substantial dish like a mole. Or possibly even both.

Here’s a simple guide:

Top pairings with Mexican food

Tacos, tostadas and dips like guacamole and salsa fresca

There tend to be a lot of bright citrus flavours in these types of dishes: crisp fresh whites like Sauvignon Blanc and Albarino work particularly well as do classic margaritas, wheat beers (especially witbiers) or citrussy pale ales. Fresh fruity non-alcoholic cocktails like this citrus fizz or watermelon or hibiscus-flavoured Agua Fresca are good matches too.

Six of the best drinks to pair with tacos

Tamalas and other dishes with masa harina

Chardonnay is great with corn.

Cheesy enchiladas or burritos

With a chicken enchilada I'd go for a pale ale or light smooth dry white like a chenin blanc or unoaked chardonnay. With beef enchiladas or burritos try an amber ale or a medium-bodied red like a young Rioja or other tempranillo, a garnacha or a Côte du Rhône or a Bonarda

Moles

Moles suit dark Mexican beers like Negra Modelo or other dark beers - maybe even a stout with a chocolatey mole. Winewise I'd favour robust but not over-tannic young reds such as Petite Sirah and Zinfandel. Slightly smoky, gamey reds such as mourvèdre (or GSM blends) and barbera work too. If you feel your mole could benefit from a bit more sweetness go for a Chilean cabernet or a riper style of zinfandel

Other slow braised dishes like carnitas

Barbera, malbec or syrah. Amber and dark ales and lagers

Mexican desserts such as churros and cajeta pancakes

With cajetas (caramelised goats milk pancakes) I’d go for a sweet muscat or late harvest sauvignon blanc. With churros I’d personally skip the wine and drink a black Americano coffee.

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Some great food pairings for tequila

Posted by Fiona Beckett on July 24 2021 at 07:31

Despite the recent increase in interest in Mexican street food like tacos consumers in the UK still have to take to tequila (maybe because they’re too busy drinking gin) but in fact it’s an attractive and versatile spirit to pair with food

The style you’re most likely to come across is silver tequila, the type that’s most often used in a margarita, but you may also come across reposado tequilas which are aged in wood and anejo, older tequilas which are ideal for after-dinner drinking. (Think of them like rum: Silver is like white rum with a herbal twist, reposado like a golden rum and anejo like an aged sipping rum).

Obviously the natural starting point is Mexican food but there’s no reason why you shouldn’t drink tequila with other cuisines such as Latin American, Caribbean and newly fashionable African.

Here are the type of dishes that I think work best

Tacos
The street food of 2017, especially fish tacos which with a white or silver tequila. Try a reposado if you’re eating meatier tacos like pork

Raw fish
Particularly ceviche and punchily seasoned fish tartares but there's no reason why you shouldn’t try a silver tequila with sushi or sashimi

Grilled seafood like squid or prawns
Especially with garlic or a touch of chilli. Silver, again

A wide range of vegetables especially asparagus, green peppers and tomatillos (silver) and corn (reposado) Also avocado which of course is technically a fruit but counts as a veg in my book - guacamole being the obvious option

Recipes with fresh herbs especially coriander
Again this appears regularly in Mexican food but there’s no reason why you shouldn’t sip a silver tequila with Indian street food like samosas or puris and green chutney. It should go with middle eastern grills and salads too.

Recipes with citrus especially lime and orange
Citrus works particularly well with the flavour of agave (the plant from which tequila is made)

Pork
Pulled, grilled, served with corn (like posole) - all good with a reposado. Think also empanadas with a pork filling

Steak
You can partner a good steak or burger with a reposado or an anejo. Even fajitas though I probably wouldnt drink anything tooo fancy with them.

Chocolate
Like most aged spirits anejo tequila goes well with dark chocolate - or even milk chocolate if it’s Mexican which has a particularly delicious fudgy texture.

There's a useful longer article on pairing food with tequila here.

Six of the best drinks to pair with tacos

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6 of the best drink pairings for avocado toast

Posted by Fiona Beckett on September 12 2014 at 08:41

Judging by my Instagram feed practically everyone is eating avocado toast at least once a day but what do you drink with it?

If you’re not on Instagram - or one of the 10 million people who has apparently searched for avocado toast on Google* - you may even wonder what it is.

Smashed up avocado on toast - or bread. That’s it.

Well, more or less. There are all sorts of fancy variations but purists like to keep it simple

Fans are as likely to have it for breakfast as they are for lunch or supper so my six pairings include 3 non-alcoholic drinks:

Green tea
Not just a colour thing, the slight herbiness of green tea is great with avocado. Better than coffee IMHO. By the way don’t make it with boiling water - that’s why it tastes bitter.

Homemade lemonade or - if you haven’t got time to make it - lemon and lime Juicy Water. Citrus and avocado is a no-brainer

A Virgin Mary (in other words a Bloody Mary without booze)
Tomatoes and avo are also great. This looks a good recipe

Witbier
A well-chilled Belgian-style wheat beer served with a slice of lemon. Much more interesting than lager.

Sauvignon Blanc
Definitely the wine that comes to mind. Great with guac - equally good with avocado toast.

A classic margarita
If you want to pay tribute to avocado’s Mexican origins there can be no better cocktail. Do make it with fresh lime though rather than a Margarita mix

*twice as many as fried chicken, would you believe?

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