Arbroath smokie mousse and leeks with Vinho Verde

I’ve been dying to eat at The Goods Shed in Canterbury since I first walked through its doors and was blown away by the range and quality of the produce they have on sale there and I finally made it last week.

It’s a bit like an indoor farmers’ market with different stalls including a first rate butcher and fishmonger. They also have a small restaurant space down one side that makes full use of the ingredients that are on display.

They’d sadly run out of crab tart but told us there was a replacement dish of Arbroath smokie mousse with poached leeks and radishes. I’m guessing the smokie, which is a type of smoked haddock, was poached in milk then anointed with drops of leek- or maybe parsley-infused oil.

Anyway it was absolutely delicious and a brilliant match for the 2023 Azevedo Vinho Verde I’d picked off the list, a blend of alvarinho and loureiro. Crisp, dry and slightly saline as opposed to the spritzy off-dry style that the region used to produce.

It’s great value too. You can buy it currently from Waitrose  for £9.99 though it is quite often on promotion.

Albarino would of course work with that sort of dish too.

For other alvarinho - and albarino - matches see

The best pairings for albarino (and alvarinho)