Gambas pil pil and albariño

Albariño is a well-established pairing for seafood but in fact it was the seasoning rather than the prawns that made this combination sing.

I enjoyed it, admittedly, in the idyllic setting of the Chiringuito Tropicana restaurant overlooking the beach at Malaga which puts you in the mood to like practically anything in your glass but the Mar de Frades is a reliable brand that I knew my friends would enjoy.

The 2023 - a little fruitier than I remember - sailed right through the meal but was stood up particularly well to the gambas pil pil, the Spanish name for prawns cooked with olive oil, chilli and garlic. It was a really punchy version but didn’t throw the wine in the least. Albarino can carry strong flavours.

You can buy it from Tesco currently for £17 - not cheap for Tesco but a good price for the wine which generally sells for over £20 elsewhere.

And - whisper it - Aldi has just introduced an albarino in a cheekily similar blue bottle in their Baron Amarillo range for just £8.99 which is definitely worth a whirl if you’re an albarino fan.

For other albariño pairings see The best pairings for albariño (and alvarinho)

For other prawn and shrimp pairings see The best pairings for prawns or shrimp

Shrimp and soft shell crab burger with vintage champagne

One of the (many) charms of champagne is how well it goes with comfort food like a shrimp burger as I discovered at London’s famous seafood restaurant J Sheekey last week

The occasion was a dinner to launch their new champagne and oyster bar and terrace which they’ve set up in partnership with Moët et Chandon. We also had oysters - obviously - dressed crab and langoustines with a dollop of gloriously glossy mayonnaise but it was the burgers which were paired with the 2013 vintage of Moët which were the standout pairing

The thing is if you have champagne this mature it can take practically anything in its stride including the slightly pokey spiced Korean mayo which was served alongside and into which I gaily dunked my chips. (This was fortunately before I went down with COVID a couple of days later when I wouldn’t have been able to taste a thing)

The burger is actually a comparatively reasonable - for the West End - £22.50 though chips would add another fiver onto that and a glass of vintage Moët no doubt another £20, assuming you could stop at one. But if you had an indulgent elderly relative who wanted to treat you - or wanted to treat your beloved to a romantic night out (it is still a wonderfully romantic restaurant) If would be perfect.

I ate at J Sheekey as a guest of the restaurant.

Bao and Bacchus

Who would have thought a few years ago that it would be as easy to drink local wine in southern England as it is over the channel in northern France? (Well, almost. I’m not counting Burgundy!)

So when I stayed at The Ollerod in Beaminster in West Dorset last week I thought I’d try the local Furleigh Estate Bacchus. But would it go with my spicy starter of crispy prawn and kimchi bao with sriracha mayonnaise?

The answer of course is yes, otherwise I wouldn’t be telling you about it would I?

The bao bun was flavoured with squid ink which is why it’s black (sorry for rubbish low-light photo) and neither the kimchi or the siracha was too hot but it still packed quite a punch. But then the Bacchus - from the excellent 2018 vintage - was quite full-flavoured too - in some ways more like an Aussie riesling than its normal drinkalike, sauvignon blanc. And you’d expect Aussie riesling to go with this kind of food. (Note the filling was prawn - I'd have been less inclined to drink it with a pork-stuffed bao.)

Anyway it goes to show that you can always be surprised - in this case pleasantly - by a wine pairing you wouldn’t have predicted. I really liked the food at Ollerod though it’s quite a pricey place to stay, in August at least. Chris Staines, a chef I greatly admired when he was cooking at Allium in Bath, owns the restaurant with his partner Silvana and is in the kitchen.

Furleigh has some other excellent pairing suggestions for Bacchus on their website on which it is unfortunately sold out* “Perfect served chilled with seafood such as ‘moules marinères' or flat fish such as lemon sole, plaice, brill or turbot. Enjoy it with goats cheese, or asparagus drizzled with lemon butter. Also good with Japanese sushi and pickled ginger, but go easy on the wasabi. Try it with Scandinavian pickled fish such as soused herrings or rollmops.”

A model wine pairing note!

See also my six best wine pairings for Bacchus

*although try their sparkling wines too.

Prawns with ouzo, orzo and courgette and Greek rosé

I didn’t have plans to go to Greece this year but staying in the UK for the summer has given me itchy feet so I’m cooking my way round the Med instead.

This was a dish from Marianna Leivaditaki (of Morito)’s lovely new book Aegean (which I’ve posted here). I made it with friends last Friday and would definitely make it again. Orzo is a small, rice-shaped pasta and the dish is a bit like a prawn risotto.

We drank two wines with it - a delicious Greek rosé called Nautilus which Aldi rather cheekily has on sale for £6.99 (it’s over twice that elsewhere) and the Azores Wine Company’s wonderfully sharp, salty Verdelho which at £31.50 (from winebuyers.com) is considerably pricier but rare and thrilling. Both wines were samples.

Other pale dry rosés, particularly from Provence, would also be good as would other crisp whites such as Picpoul de Pinet and albarino.

You might wonder if you could pair ouzo with it as the recipe includes it and you would presumably have a bottle to hand. I think it’s a bit of an ask to drink it right through a meal - it’s better with meze - but you obviously could. If you didn't have ouzo you could use - and drink - dry white vermouth.