What to drink with chicken wings (and your other Superbowl snacks)

Let’s face it a well-honed wine pairing probably isn’t top priority on Superbowl night but there’s no reason why you can’t sip something delicious as you’re nervously nibbling your chicken wings (or your nails).

Chicken wings can of course come many different guises - with a honey marinade, classic barbecue, buffalo wings or with this hot and spicy siracha sauce but the common factor is likely to be that they’re spicy, more than a little sweet (and sticky) and maybe crunchy too.

I know chicken wings aren’t likely to be the only food on offer but it's not like these drinks won’t pair with anything else . . .

* Lager. Gotta be, really hasn’t it and that doesn’t mean the most tasteless, cheapest brew on the market. A good lager from your local microbrewery - like Meantime if you’re in London.

* Pale Ale - I usually recommend an IPA over a pale ale but if you’re looking for a session beer, a lower alcohol pale ale is probably a better choice on this occasion. And there’s enough flavour going on in the food not to need a massive wallop of hops

* Prosecco or - be patriotic! - an all-American sparkling wine. Possibly not one for the boys but fizz totally hits the spot with crunchy, crispy foods.

* Rosé - OK, it’s not summer but that doesn’t mean you can’t drink rosé - it’s great with party food. Maybe even sparkling rosé. Maybe - gulp! - even white zin . . .

* Off-dry riesling especially if the wings have an Asian twist

* A soft fruity red like a Zinfandel which is particularly good with smoky barbecue flavours.I’d keep the alcohol under 14% ABV though. It’s going to be a looooong night ...

For a totally off-the-wall pairing for wings check out this brilliant cocktail match I came across in Portland's Pok Pok.

You might also enjoy The Best Wine (and Cocktail) Pairings for Garlic Cheesy Bread

Image © Brent Hofacker - Fotolia.com

What to drink with dal

Generally of course dal wouldn’t be eaten on its own but with a curry or a biryani but given it makes a pretty good midweek dish on its own or with rice you might fancy a glass with it. Here are some options

8 great drinks to pair with dal

Dal recipes obviously vary so you’ll need to experiment!

Cider

I mean, come on, this is Bristol. Let’s celebrate our regional drink. Besides it goes REALLY well with gently spiced food like dal

Lager

I’m not thinking of Kingfisher more like a good craft lager like Lost & Grounded’s Keller pils.

Sylvaner

Not as well known as Alsace’s other grape varieties such as riesling and gewürztraminer but I really like its refreshingly fruity character with a dal

Dry rosé

Rosé works surprisingly well with Indian food. I’d personally choose a dry-ish style from Provence or elsewhere in the south of France

A virgin mojito

And other lime-based drinks. Even a Rose’s lime cordial!

Salted lassi

Or mango lassi if you prefer but I like salted with dal. There’s a nice recipe here.

Coconut water

Not a huge fan myself but it would definitely work. My local Indian restaurant, Thali does a Arrack Sour cocktail with Ceylon arrack shaken with coconut water, lime and egg white which would totally hit the spot.

Cold brew tea

I was going to suggest chai but I think cold brew tea would be even nicer. There’s a useful guide on brewing up on the Samovar tea website

Photo © Bart at fotolia.com

Which beers to drink at Easter

You may find family and friends resistant to the idea of putting beer on the Easter table (though some will be secretly pleased) but stick to your guns.

The more your guests see how great beer is with different types of food the more confident they’ll feel about serving it themselves and the less likely it is that the only beer you’ll find when you go to their house is a Bud. So, here goes:

Turkey
Roast turkey is a very beer-friendly dish. I particularly like it with Duvel and with the Scottish golden lager Schiehallion but you could pair it with any kind of golden ale or lager such as Budweiser Budvar from the Czech republic or with a Belgian or Northern French blonde ale, the beer world’s equivalent of chardonnay. Amber ales and lagers work well too.

Lamb
Two ways to go here - you could go for a strong Trappist beer like Orval, Chimay Rouge or a French bière de garde (the equivalent of a full bodied red) or a slightly sour red ale such as Duchesse de Bourgogne (think pinot noir)

Duck
Surprisingly, given how different a type of meat it is, the beers I’ve recommended above with lamb would work with duck too. If you were feeling particularly daring you could offer a cherry or raspberry beer. Duck and cherries? Classic.

Chocolate
Better with beer than with wine, many think but I’m not sure that most beer fans favourite choice, porter, isn’t too heavy for this time of year. Again a raspberry or cherry-flavoured fruit beer could well work particularly if you serve fresh berries with the dessert

Lemon tart
I’ve already focussed on the problems intensely lemony desserts pose for wine and beer certainly isn’t any easier. Hey, why not just eat it on its own?

Eggs
A witbier, bière blanche or other light, cloudy wheat beer is generally regarded as the best match for brunch dishes. Since it’s also good with smoked and cold salmon, spring vegetables such as asparagus and salads it’s well worth having a few bottles around.

You may also find this post useful:

Which wines to drink at Easter

Image by Oscar Trompenaars from Pixabay

What to drink with Scandinavian food

If culture and ‘terroir’ are a basis for deciding which drinks bestmatch a particular cuisine then beer must have a strong claim to bepaired with Scandinavian food.

Certainly London’s newest Scandi restaurant Madsen believes so offering a matching beer with every course for their recent menu for the London Restaurant Festival.

It was a nice idea that didn’t quite come off because of the quantities of beer involved. I ordered an Aer India Pale Ale from Denmark which was fine with my main course of ‘Hakkebøf med bløde løg’ (aka Danish beef burger with beetroot) but much less good with my ‘curry-marinated herring with green apples’ and a delicious smoked salmon dip, both of would have been better with a light lager or pilsner. Ideally you’d be able to order 250ml (or smaller) glasses so that you could match each course. 500ml is a lot of beer to drink for lunch (for girls at least ;-)

The food though was lovely - a modern take on smørrebrød with slightly larger helpings than you would get in Denmark but smaller than a standard main course - perfect for lunch. I also got to taste (though didn’t order) a fantastic baked crème caramel made with Svaneke ‘Choko’ Chocolate Stout so they’re obviously playing around with the idea of beer in food too.

There are other drink options, obviously, with this style of food though beer almost always scores better than wine with anything pickled in my opinion. A pan-fried fillet of Irish plaice with steamed broccoli tossed in oyster remoulade I also tasted would have been excellent with a minerally Sauvignon Blanc and my beefburger would have gone well with a Bordeaux or any similar Cabernet Merlot blend.

I like Madsen. It has a friendly, café-style design and atmosphere (very Scandi) and offers something genuinely distinctive to the London dining scene. They’re apparently thinking of putting on beer dinners so keep an eye on their website and on Twitter where they tweet as MadsenLondon.

Madsen is at 20 Old Brompton Road, London SW7 3DL. Tel 020 7225 2772.

I ate at Madsen as a guest of the restaurant.

Photo by Nextvoyage