Maple syrup square with Neige Noir Ambré

I’ve experienced so many terrific wine - and other drink - pairings during the past week in Canada that I think I’m going to have to devote several posts to them, not just this one. And the best - well, I’m struggling but I think it’s got to be this match which was suggested by the sommelier at Le Filet in Montreal - which is a bit ironic as their big thing is fish.

Anyway it’s a decadently fudgy (but not too sweet) maple syrup square with whipped cream and pecans which apparently they can’t take off the menu. They match it with a well chilled glass of Neige Noir Ambré a gorgeous rich apple-based digestif that almost tastes like maple syrup itself but weaves in caramelised apple, orange peel and spice. Surprisingly it’s only 18% like a pommeau - it tastes more powerful and intense than that but without dominating the dessert.

Incidentally they also have an absolute dream of a wine list majoring in Burgundy. And other dishes I tried were just stunning - but more of them anon. (Indulge me. I’m just back after a flight on the red-eye!)

I ate at Le Filet as a guest of the restaurant.

Duck and waffle and saison beer

Unusually this week’s match is speculative - an imagined pairing rather than an actual one.

It’s the signature dish of the Duck & Waffle which occupies a dramatic site on the 40th floor of the Heron Tower with spectacular views over the City of London. We were there for breakfast and it went perfectly well with the black Americano coffee I’d ordered but as it’s available at other times I was wondering what I’d drink if I’d ordered it at 2am (the restaurant is open round the clock).

The dish is an intriguing mixture of sweet and salty. A spicy confit duck leg on a waffle, topped with an egg with mustard-spiked maple syrup poured over the top. Outrageously good though I struggled to think of a wine that would match. Tokaji might though I think a dessert wine would overdo the sweetness.

My friend Sig suggested bourbon which would certainly work flavour-wise but might be a touch too strong. A Manhattan maybe …

Then I had a chat on Twitter with the chef Dan Doherty and we decided that what it needed was a beer - a rich strong saison for preference. You could probably also get away with a blonde ale or even a strong golden ale like Duvel. Or maybe Deus, a Belgian Tripel brewed with champagne yeast. In fact once you start thinking about beer there seem limitless possibilities. You could even drink a breakfast beer - if the Duck & Waffle had one. (I’m hoping this post will encourage them to enlarge their beer list!)

If you’re not able to get to the Duck and Waffle you can find the recipe in Dan’s recently published book of the same name.