Match of the week
Fideos negros con calamaritos with alioli and Rueda
I’ve never been a huge fan of Rueda, a sauvignon-style wine from the north of Spain, but seem to have been drinking it non-stop since I arrived in Malaga.
Maybe because it goes so well with the local seafood but I think they go for a fresher less pungent style here than back in the UK
This was one of the best pairings with one of my favourite dishes of the trip at Taverna Uvedoble: Fideos negros or fried squid ink noodles with baby squid and a good dollop of alioli (garlic mayo). It was SO good we went back for it a second time.
The Rueda acted with the pasta like a sharp squeeze of lemon, balancing the dark saline flavour of the noodles and the punchy alioli. A really good restaurant and a great combination
Salt and pepper squid with Asian dressing and Fleur du Cap unfiltered chardonnay
One of the highlights of last week’s trip to South Africa was a salt pairing dinner with Fleur du Cap wines at the Bergkelder. The chef Craig Cormack was a real salt fanatic having hunted down dozens of different varieties and experimented with matching them with different wines.
The overall effect of salt on wine is to reduce acidity and fill the wine out which is certainly what happened with the Chardonnay. Tasted on its own before the dinner it was, despite its 14.3% ABV, pleasantly smooth and creamy. Combined with the squid and accompanying rice it tasted much richer, almost Burgundian, a wine of twice the price.
The interesting issue was whether that was due primarily to the salt or the umami-rich dressing which included black sesame seeds and the sweet Indonesian soy sauce kecap manis. Probably a bit of both.
Other cleverly judged pairings during the dinner included venison with smoked salt and a salted chocolate ganache with the Fleur du Cap unfiltered Cabernet Sauvignon and flambéed bananas with cinnamon sugar, salted peanut chocolate mousse and tonka bean ice cream with the Noble Late Harvest.
Similar dinners are held on the last Thursday of each month for 290R (£16/$27 - check out the Fleur du Cap Facebook page for details ) but you can also try a selection of salt pairing canapés every weekday at the Bergkelder tasting room for an incredibly reasonable 75R (£4/$7)
Carrot and basil-infused slugs and Saumur Blanc
For the first time my match of the week is not one I’ve experienced myself but was reported by Ron Zimmerman of The Herbfarm in Woodinville, Washington on Twitter (where he tweets as Herbguy - and I tweet as winematcher)
Apparently a customer asked him if he could serve up slugs and he obliged, first purging them on a diet of carrots and basil.
His asked on Twitter what the ideal wine pairing should be, saying he was thinking along the lines of Sauvignon Blanc. I frivolously suggested a strong rosé like Tavel or the Provençal anise-flavoured aperitif pastis (the better to mask the slug flavour, to be honest) but he ended up serving the Thierry Germain L’Insolite Domaine des Roches Neuves Saumur Blanc 2005.
In fact as you can see from Zimmerman’s Picasa album here the preparation and presentation was quite elaborate so I imagine he was looking more for a wine to pick up on his basil-grappa butter and tomato confit than his Spotted Leopard and European Red Slugs which apparently tasted somewhat like calamari. According to Zimmerman “the basil, with the touch of sweetness from the shallots and carrots, pushed the flavours into a nice range for the Saumur Blanc”.
If you’re of a squeamish disposition don’t let that put you off The Herbfarm - a restaurant about which I’ve heard good things. They apparently serve slug-free 9 course themed dinners paired with matching wines on a regular basis.
And if slugs are infesting your garden you now know what to do with them . . .
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