Ceviche and pisco sour

I’ve been in Chile for the past week at the World’s Best Sommelier competition and have plenty to report about that but here’s a great non-wine match in the meantime - and a couple of tips about how to make an authentic Pisco Sour.

Ceviche, as I’m sure you know, is raw fish marinated in citrus and you find it everywhere in Santiago, especially in the Chilean and Peruvian restaurants. I’ve found in the past it works well with Soave and Torrontes (see below) and it’s fantastic with Chile’s Sauvignon Blancs as I’ll be explaining later this week but it’s also really enjoyable with Pisco Sour which is Chile’s - and Peru's - national cocktail.

The classic formula, according to the barman at a Peruvian restaurant I went to called Puerto Peru, is 3 shots of pisco. 1 of lemon or lime juice, 1 of sugar syrup and half an egg white. The restaurant infused their sugar syrup with orange and lemon peel and cinnamon which made it more aromatic and slightly less tart.

Sadly pisco sours are pretty difficult to reproduce outside of Latin America as the flavour depends on the local limon de Pica which are are actually rather more like small lemons than limes (for a more detailed explanation check out this useful article on a website called Rick Cooks. My hunch is that you’d get nearest to it by blending grapefruit, lime and lemon juice together.

You also, of course, need a bottle of Pisco, the Chilean/Peruvian grape-based spirit or brandy but that’s reasonably easy to get hold of.

It's an absolutely delicious drink but as you can see from the quantities above pretty lethal so take care!

Ceviche and Susana Balbo Torrontes

I’m currently away in Priorato in Spain (of which more later this week) but this was a great combination I came across last week at the Gaucho Grill in Swallow Street, London.

They’ve always served ceviches (raw fish marinated in citrus juice) but the selection has recently been refined by their executive chef Fernando Trocca who I met earlier this year in Argentina.

There were three kinds: a salmon tiradito (a layered version of ceviche) with citrus oil, lobster with white gazpacho and grapes and raw scallops with coconut dressing - all quite spicy. (You can order any three as a single course.)

The Susana Balbo Torrontes comes from the cool Salta region to the north of the country and is considered one of Argentina’s best. It has a perfumed floral character, not unlike a Gewürztraminer and took all the exotic and spicy flavours in its stride. I like the fact that being one of the grape varieties Argentina has made its own it’s the obvious local pairing too.

(Obviously it goes without saying we had steak and Malbec too but I probably don't need to point out again what a good combination that is!)