Wagyu beef tataki and ginjo sake

We get so used to thinking of red wine as the only pairing for beef that it’s good to be reminded there are other options. Especially when it comes to Japan’s fabled Wagyu beef which is all about subtle tastes and textures.

I was at an event at the Japanese embassy yesterday which marked the fact that authentic Wagyu can now be imported to into the UK again which was celebrated by an impressive line-up of dishes from some top London chefs

This was my favourite dish which came from Umu in Mayfair - a fabulous dish of charcoal and straw- (yes, straw!) grilled Wagyu tataki with a summer vegetable terrine and sesame sauce. The beef was grilled over charcoal and then rested on Himalayan salt blocks.

I simply don’t think the usual full-bodied red you’d drink with steak would have done it justice. Possibly a good red burgundy but I loved the match with a cool Dewazakura Oka ginjo sake which showed off the luxurious texture of the meat, didn't overwhelm the vegetable terrine (a lovely accompaniment) and picked up on the sesame sauce. A total treat.

Smoked haddock and leek risotto and Albarino

If you were thinking of a wine pairing for risotto you’d probably reach for an Italian white such as a Pinot Grigio but Spain’s famous Galician white Albarino works equally well as I discovered the other day.

Mind you it wasn’t a conventional risotto, more like a creamy risotto-like kedgeree with smoked haddock - and fish is almost always a good pairing for Albarino. The saltiness of the fish in this case hit it off perfectly with the bright crisp wine - a 2012 Condes de Albaret. Although you might have thought that the deep fried egg (see the crisp little ball in the centre of the dish) might have affected the wine choice it was the haddock that was the key to the match.

It was a while since I’d been to the restaurant, Les Deux Salons, a modern brasserie just off Trafalgar Square and forgotten what a useful place it is for a quick lunch in that part of town. (They do a very reasonably priced two course prix fixe menu from 12 noon to 6.30pm) I also like the way they serve almost all their wines by the 250ml carafe as they do in their two other restaurants Arbutus and Wild Honey.

Asparagus salad and Grüner Veltliner

I’ve been in Vienna for the past few days so couldn’t really avoid eating asparagus. Not that I wanted to. Austria’s white asparagus is one of the highlights of the spring and early summer so we grabbed any opportunity we could to wolf it.

This was a salad at a very cool café called Meierei which specialises in dairy foods so the asparagus was combined with fresh cheese, tomato and a milky dressing and some puffed up pork crackling a bit like posh Quavers. Really delicious. We drank the restaurant's own Grüner Veltliner with it. I can’t give you any more detail as they don’t put their winelist on their website and infuriatingly I didn’t note it down but it was a crisp, fresh youthful style - a 2013 I seem to recall.

We could have also drunk riesling with it - it’s a toss-up whether you should go for Grüner or Riesling with asparagus depending on your mood and the way it’s prepared. But if you go to Vienna don’t miss it.

Spiced creme brulée tarts and Carthagène de Haut-Gléon

Last week was the London Wine Fair - the last place, to be honest, I expected to find a stellar wine match. (It doesn't feature food.)

But I bumped into TV chef Cyrus Todiwala and his wife Pervin who had devised some canapés for the Foncalieu stand.

There were some delicious savoury ones including some chilli crab and coconut quiches- a great match with the Le Versant Sauvignon Blanc but the standout combination was some creme brulée tartlets spiced with cardamom and saffron* with an exotically honeyed Carthagène ‘vin de liqueur’.

Carthagène, which is a speciality of the south of France, is a fortified sweet wine similar to a vin doux natural - i.e. a sweet wine to which grape spirit is added. It can be made from white or red grapes and is very sweet. This Haut-Gléon, which is stocked by City Beverage in Old Street, London at £24.95, was a blend of Marsanne and Muscat. I’d serve it well chilled in little antique liqueur glasses.

Incidentally if you’re a fan of Indian food Cyrus and Pervin will be celebrating World Goa Day this Friday at their new restaurant Assado near Waterloo station. The menu, which includes a Goan-style feijoada will run until July 14th

* I've asked Cyrus for the recipe!