Match of the week
Mangalitza pork pie and Pomerol
I often get asked what the best pairing for a serious red wine is and I don’t think the people who pose the question would expect the answer 'pork pie'.
But this is the second time I’ve accompanied a pie with a top Bordeaux and it was absolutely magnificent.
The pie wasn’t just any old pork pie obviously but a freshly baked Mangalitza pork and prune pie from Coombeshead Farm in Cornwall, one of the places I’m most looking forward to returning to when we can travel again.
They rear the mangalitza pigs, which are a slow-growing cross between a Hungarian breed and a wild boar and have the most incredible flavour. You can only get it as part of the Mangalitza & Co pork box which also includes sausages, bacon and the most outrageously fatty but delicious pork chops*. They don’t mention deliveries after the end of February so may have limited availability
The wine was a 2007 La Conseillante Pomerol I bought about 8 years ago from Tesco when they were doing a fine wine promotion. It had been kept in less than ideal conditions but was still gloriously vibrant and velvety. The 2007 now costs about £70 - I certainly didn’t pay anything like that for it! I’m not sure it wasn’t under £20.
See also What food to pair with red Bordeaux
* According to the British Pig Association, mangalitzas used to be known as the ‘lard pig’. You can see some fabulous photos of them on their site
I paid for the Mangalitza & Co pork box and the wine myself.
Sausage and gammon pie and Wiper & True Family Tree IPA
OK, pie and beer is not rocket science but sometimes it’s good to be reminded what a very good match they can be. Especially when both the pie and the beer come from the same place.
The pie was the super-crumbly warm sausage and gammon pie they serve at No 12 Easton in Bristol with a generous dollop of piccalilli and a fennel salad and the beer a bottle of local Bristol brewery Wiper & True's Family Tree IPA which contains Nugget, Simcoe and Mosaic hops. I was quite startled to find it was 7.2% ABV - the alcohol didn't seem at all overpowering
Being in the West Country, cider would of course have been an equally good option but I didn't miss wine at all.
How often do you put a bottle of beer on the table when you bake a pie for friends?
Pork pie and pale ale
Today, being St George’s Day, what other pairing could I offer you but a classic British dish with a classic British beer?
Pork pies, for those of you who are unfamiliar with them are quintessential British pub grub, coarsely chopped or minced pork encased in crisp pastry. At least it should be crisp. Many pork pies suffer from spending days on a supermarket - or garage forecourt - chill counter so that the pastry become leaden and soggy.
A freshly baked pie, on the other hand is an irresistible treat. Just warm, oozing with savoury jelly, the meat sweet and flavoursome. The best come from the Leicestershire town of Melton Mowbray though I’ve had some wonderful pies from butchers in Yorkshire too. You can buy them online from Dickinson & Morris on www.porkpie.co.uk
The pale ale I would choose - and not simply because Madonna claims that it is her favourite beer - is Timothy Taylor's Landlord from Keighley in Yorkshire, a multi-award-winning, intensely hoppy brew that has four times been CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) Supreme Champion. Pale ale is the bottled version of the bitter you find in pubs so a best bitter would of course do equally well.
The match is so great because it contains two ingredients that pair brilliantly with traditional British ales, pork and pastry. Home made sausage rolls would be equally good.
Image by Elena Zajchikova at shutterstock.com
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