Chocolate brownies, vanilla ice-cream and PX sherry

This was by far the most popular pairing at a chocolate and wine tasting I did for the West of England Wine and Spirit Association in Bristol on Friday night. We didn’t actually have the ice cream but I think it would have made it even better.

The brownies, which were particularly squidgy and chocolatey, were made by local brownie queen, caterer and supper club host Elly Curshen of Pear Cafe and apparently contained half a kilo of dark chocolate. They obviously overwhelmed our lighter wines but even proved a bit of a handful for our sweet reds including an LBV port. However they were sensationally good with an intensely sweet, deeply raisiny, Pedro Ximenez sherry from Sanchez Romate Hnos (£22.50 in a very handsome bottle from Great Western Wine) - the best PX I’ve tasted.

You might think it’s gilding the lily but I can think of a way of making the combination even yummier: serving the brownies just warm with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. PX is often recommended poured over vanilla ice-cream so why not serve it with the brownies and a small glass alongside? An easy and indulgent dessert.

Incidentally I do hold food and drink tastings (not just wine) regularly - usually in London, Bristol or Bath but will consider going further afield. (I was recently asked to do one in Australia!) Contact me at fiona AT matchingfoodandwine DOT com or check out this page if you’d like to know more.

Chargilled steak with Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignon

Steak and red wine sounds too obvious a pairing to highlight but sometimes it hits the spot so perfectly it’s worth being reminded there’s nothing better you can eat with a good bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon (unless you’re a vegetarian, obviously . . .)

The steak, I must confess, was at my son’s new restaurant Hawksmoor Air Street so you’ll have to take the praise with a pinch of salt but it was to my mind a perfectly cooked, heavily crusted ribeye - part of their lunchtime and early evening menu.

I chose to drink a glass of 2007 Hartenberg Estate Cabernet Sauvignon with it which struck me as interesting because it was a) 5 years old b) priced (at £9) more highly than the Bordeaux by the glass and was well rewarded by a beautifully smooth, plummy mature cabernet with none of the leafy character you sometimes come across in aged South African reds. According to the Hartenberg website their Cabernet is “made to be aged for ten years or more” so was a comparative baby but I reckon I drank it at exactly the right minute.

It shows - as I’ve said numerous times before - that new world reds repay cellaring though I have to say I’m enjoying 2007s generally at the moment despite the fact that it’s not regarded as a standout vintage (except in the Rhone, Chile and California).

Hawksmoor Air Street also does fish - in collaboration with the brilliant Mitch Tonks. I can strongly recommend the fried queenies (scallops), brown shrimps on toast and the turbot! Oh, and the Janssons Temptation (which is like a fishy gratin dauphinoise).

Disclaimer: I ate at Hawksmoor with my daughter as the guest of my son ;-)

Mini Yorkshire puddings with rare fillet of beef and Central Otago Pinot Noir

A student gathering is not the first place you’d think of finding a good wine pairing or, indeed, a drinkable wine at all but the talk I gave last week at the University of Bristol Wine Circle produced some great combinations.

The food which was prepared by recently graduated student Emma Barlow was pretty impressive too. I think most of us would feel well pleased with ourselves if we’d managed to rustle up such posh canapés as the mini Yorkshire puddings with rare fillet of beef, creamed horseradish and pea-shoots on the right.

With it we’d paired a mature 2002 Haut-Médoc, Chateau Lamothe-Bergeron which I thought a little austere though have to admit the majority of the students disagreed with me. I preferred a younger, more lively Central Otago Pinot Noir 2010, the Yealands Estate ‘Chancet Rocks’ which confimed my belief that pinot is a particularly good match for fillet steak.

The truth is that both would be fine with beef though I think the Bordeaux would drink better with a roast dinner and the pinot would be the better party wine.

Other good pairings were a Western Australia Sauvignon-Semillon called Allegory with some parmesan and rosemary shortbreads with roast cherry tomatoes, feta and black olives and a 2011 Sauvignon de Touraine with filo tartlets filled with smoked chicken, mango and coriander.

Those Bristol students know how to live . . .

Fried red gurnard and chips and Devon red cider

It was a bumper week for food pairings last week a number of which I’ll be flagging up elsewhere on the site and my Facebook page but I’ve gone for this very straightforward combination because its so simple to replicate at home

It was served at Mitch Tonks’ Rockfish seafood restaurant in Dartmouth this weekend where I was down for the food festival. Red gurnard isn’t normally a fish you find fried - it’s more commonly used in a Provençal-style fish soup or stew but this was obviously super fresh.

The cider, which I didn’t know either, is made by Sandford Orchards near Crediton and is incredibly refreshing and fruity - just on the dry side of medium dry. You can buy it from their farm, online and from various local stockists.

It worked so well, I think, because the sweetness of the fish mirrored the slight sweetness of the cider. Or maybe it was the dash of Padsters Lemon Vinegar - another find.

Perfect Friday night drinking anyway!

Click here for other good fish and chip matches.