What food to pair with Malbec

Malbec has become so popular it may have become one of your favourite red wines but what are the best kind of dishes to pair with it?

Given most of the bottles we see come from Argentina, steak might seem the obvious answer but there are lots of other dishes it would work with too. In the Cahors region of south-west France for example it might well be paired with a cassoulet.

Generally it’s a full-bodied, generous wine which goes well with meat-based dishes but suits grilled and roasted vegetables too. It can also handle a bit of spice - try it with a chilli con carne or a kebab

Food pairings with malbec

Young, fruity malbecs

*Smoky cured beef

*Beef empanadas

*Charcuterie, especially flavourful terrines

*Chilli con carne

*Spaghetti and meatballs

*Spaghetti bolognese (made British/American-style rather than a classic Italian ragu)

*Pasta with blue cheese sauce and broccoli (as you can see from this Match of the Week)

*Fajitas

*Beef burritos

*Burgers (OK, that’s steak, I know!)

*Medium hot lamb curries like rogan josh

*Kebabs

*Roast or grilled aubergine

*Dishes with beetroot such as a salad of smoked eel, beetroot and horseradish.

Heavyweight malbecs (more expensive, full-bodied malbecs of 14%+)

*Steak, obviously and . . .

*Roast beef or venison

*Barbecued lamb, beef or pork - it particularly suits smokey, chilli-based rubs

*Lamb tagines with prunes

*Beef teppanyaki

*Steak and hot game pies

*Aubergine bakes

*Farmhouse cheddar

*Dark chocolate (a controversial one, this but some people argue that a ripe lush Malbec works well with a chocolate dessert. Not totally convinced myself.)

More rustic styles of malbec such as Cahors and Cot

*7 hour braised leg of lamb

*Lamb shanks

*Braised beef stews or shortribs especially with smoked bacon (Malbec’s also a good wine to add to a stew)

*Pot roast pheasant

*Duck confit

*Cassoulet and other pork and bean dishes

*Flavoursome sausages with garlic e.g. Toulouse sausages

*Cheeseboards (barring lighter cheeses like goats cheese and stinkier ones like Epoisses. As Evan Goldstein points out in his excellent book Daring Pairings, Malbec works surprisingly well with more mellow blues like Barkham Blue or Stilton - though not, I think, with Roquefort)

See also 10 Argentinian wine pairings that don’t involve steak

 

Six of the best food pairings for Australian Shiraz (updated)

What most people probably think of in terms of Australian red wine is a Barossa or McLaren Vale shiraz - big, lush, sweet and ripe, the ideal pairing for grilled or barbecued beef.

Hunter Valley shiraz typically has a more savoury character that suits venison while Western Australian shiraz is made in a more elegant style, almost like a red Bordeaux, making it a good pairing for lamb.

Australian shiraz is typically much sweeter and riper than European-style syrah or syrah blends so I wouldn’t personally pair it with French food - or Italian dishes come to that. Think big flavours - and spice.

Here are six of my best pairings

* grilled or roast beef especially served rare or with a pepper sauce. Steak, in other words.

* barbecue, especially for younger less expensive shiraz and sparkling shiraz. Ribs, spicy sausages and smoked brisket in particular. Probably the best way to cook veggies if you’re looking for a vegetarian pairing

* big beefy stews such as ox cheek especially ones cooked in wine or with a touch of smoky spice like a chilli

* roast or grilled lamb, especially with more restrained Western Australia shiraz

* carpaccio of beef or venison this might surprise you but given the right accompaniments it can work as you can see from this former match of the week of carpaccio of venison with a Mollydooker The Boxer Shiraz.

* Strong hard cheeses especially cheddar. With its sweetness it can also handle a mellow blue

You might also like to know that a side of red cabbage makes a dish shiraz-friendly as you can see from this post.

And that you can even pair shiraz or a shiraz blend with fish if accompanied by a red wine sauce. See this match of the week of roast monkfish with girolles and Kalimna Cabernet-Shiraz 

And try this dish of slow-baked plums with shiraz and star anise.

These pairings would also apply to other shiraz that is made in the Australian style such as some of those from South Africa.

See also The best food pairings for syrah

You may also enjoy:

The best food matches for semillon and semillon-sauvignon blends

Which foods pair best with whisky?

I’ve been a bit of a sceptic in the past about pairing food with whisky. Not that there aren’t some great combinations but I find it hard to sustain for more than one dish.

Whisky distillers are constantly trying to persuade me to the contrary, inviting me to events pairing whisky with Indian or Italian food but it all seems slightly forced. Even for a whisky lover there are other drinks that work better.

However there are exceptions and here are some suggestions, divided up by whisky style, with some additional input from whisky writer Dave Broom. You may be suprised at some of the suggestions. Whisky with sushi? Whisky with smoked duck? Whisky with dark chocolate and ginger biscuits? Bring it on!

Light fragrant whiskies with a touch of sweetness 

Sushi (though whisky expert Dave Broom tells me that other styles can work well too)

Smoked salmon (especially wild salmon and other delicate smokes)

Dressed crab

Cullen skink (smoked haddock soup)

Cock-a-leekie (clear chicken and leek soup)

Parsnip soup

Kedgeree

Bread and butter pudding

Cranachan (whipped cream and whisky with toasted oatmeal and raspberries)

Soft, creamy cheeses

Medium bodied whiskies with some peat influence 

Smoked mackerel

Smoked mussels

Smoked oysters

Smoked duck

Smoked venison

Duck or chicken liver paté

Seared scallops and bacon

Black cod (Nobu-style) - also good with the Japanese whisky Hanyu King of Diamonds apparently

Haggis

Roast or braised pheasant

Pheasant or guineafowl with a creamy wild mushroom sauce

Full-bodied rich whiskies aged in sherry casks 

Seared or grilled steak

Char siu pork

Roast venison especially with caramelised/roast root vegetables

Rich fruit cakes e.g. Christmas cake

Christmas pudding

Mince pies

Pecan pie

Sticky toffee pudding

Gingerbread

Dark chocolate and ginger biscuits

Dark chocolate brownies

Mature cheddar

Washed-rind cheeses

Strong, peaty whiskies e.g. Lagavulin, Laphroaig

I’m cautious about these because of their powerful flavours but Dave urges you to be bold! He advocates scallops and bacon and dark chocolate (not on the same plate, obviously) with a peaty whisky, for example

Anchovy-based spreads or dips

Hot-smoked salmon

Bottarga

Haggis

Tea-smoked chicken

Mature farmhouse cheddar

Strong blue cheeses, especially Roquefort

See also these suggestions for peaty whiskies I came up with following a visit to Islay.

Bear in mind that some whiskies, especially cask-strength ones, may need a splash of water to work with food

Photograph by barmalini at shutterstock.com

The best wine pairings with venison (updated)

What is the best wine pairing for venison? An easy answer is the same sort of wine you’d drink with beef, but I’d suggest a few modifications as the two are not quite the same. Three qualities of venison, or cervena as it’s sometimes referred to in New Zealand, particularly distinguish it from beef and should influence your choice of wine match: 

• Venison is leaner
• Venison is gamier
• Venison is often combined with stronger flavours (e.g. juniper)

Let’s dive into each of these characteristics and see how they might influence the wine pairing for specific venison dishes.

For a start venison is quite a bit leaner than most beef cuts with a finer texture which tends to favour more elegant red wines such as red burgundy, barolo or mature Bordeaux - certainly when it’s served as a roast or a fillet (see this sensational match) Pinot noir is also particularly good with a venison tartare.

It is also a slightly gamier meat than beef which could lead you towards high end Rhône reds such as Côte Rôtie, Hermitage or Saint Joseph or a Bandol if it’s made into a casserole or venison stew. With more humble venison sausages try a Crozes-Hermitage. 

And it tends to be combined with strong flavours like juniper or wild mushrooms which again might lead you in a pinot direction or, as I suggest with this recipe for spiced venison with wild mushroom and truffle sauce with a more vibrant Western Australian cabernet merlot blend (or a younger, fruitier Bordeaux).

I also loved this recent pairing of amarone with a dish of venison and beetroot.

With a rich foie gras accompaniment it might even pair with a shiraz as I discovered to my surprise at a Wine Australia tasting a couple of years ago.

A more off-the-wall pairing, if you’re feeling adventurous, would be a German spätlese riesling which I greatly enjoyed with a dish of rare venison at a restaurant called Zum Krug. (But most people I suspect would prefer a spätburgunder (pinot noir) if they were thinking German wine.)

Image by Natalia Lisovskaya at shutterstock.com