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.

Scallop and mango ceviche with Montes Cherub Syrah Rosé

Given Chile’s proximity to the coast, this week’s match couldn’t be anything but seafood but I’m going to pass over the more obvious pairings with sauvignon blanc in favour of this wildly brilliant combination of scallops and rosé.

It was served on the last night of our trip last week overlooking the vineyard where the syrah grapes were grown in the Colchagua valley (how cool is that?) It’s a strong (13.6%) dark rosé which gives an impression of sweetness but tastes much drier with food.

I didn’t expect it to work with the citrus in the ceviche but the fresh mango and chilli in the marinade make it a stunning match.

Other pairings Montes recommends are sushi (especially more innovative sushi such as that served by Sushi Samba, I’d venture), salmon with mushroom sauce, paella and “shrimp scampi” pasta, cannelloni and lasagne. I reckon it would also be good with barbecued chicken and pork.

(Infuriatingly having written all this I’ve discovered that the most recent vintages of Cherub Syrah are not available in the UK but a) I couldn't resist the label b) loved the pairing c) haven't got time to rewrite the post and d) it's well-distributed in the States (see wine-searcher.com) so at least some of my readers will be happy

Other strong fruity syrah rosés will obviously work too...

Beef shin pie and a Languedoc red

It’s amazing how many different styles of eating you can pack into a week, particularly when you’re travelling. At the moment I’m in sunny Chile stuffing myself with seafood and sauvignon blanc so I'm finding it hard to remember that just six days ago I was in rain-ravaged Britain craving pies and stews.

As next week’s match is bound to be Chilean I’ll opt for a pie. It's one one of the pairings I devised for a customer evening at Islington butcher’s Turner & George.

(Declaration of interest: co-owner Richard Turner is a mate so I agree to help them choose some wines they could sell in the shop and match them with different cuts. I get paid in meat which strikes me as an excellent arrangement.)

Richard cooked up some veal to go with a gruner veltliner, some really porky sausages with the SW6 London syrah I wrote about the other day and some pheasant we matched with a Volnay then heated up the cracking ‘Polly’s beef shin pie’ they sell to go with an organic Languedoc red - the 2011 Mas des Dames “La Dame”.

By popular vote the La Dame just inched it over the Volnay/pheasant combo. It’s a satisfyingly rich full-bodied blend of grenache, syrah and old vine carignan that is absolutely made for a pie or rich beef stew.

You can buy the wines from the Turner & George shop (I think I deserve at least another lamb chop for telling you that) or in Roberson in Kensington if you’re the other end of town.

I couldn't take a picture of the pie as I was conducting the tasting. This picture is © fkruger - Fotolia.com

Seafood tapas and Txakoli

Despite its almost unpronounceable name Txakoli (pronounced chackoly) is the new kid on the block for anyone who likes a crisp dry white wine.

It comes from Spain’s Basque country and is a clean-as-a-whistle, super-sharp white with a slight spritz that’s brilliant with any kind of seafood.

I had a glass of the 2013 Ameztoi Txakoli at the latest branch of Barrafina in Adelaide Street last week which was particularly good with the deep fried fish dishes such as ortiguillas (sea anemones) and with a delicious fresh-tasting salad of fennel, radishes and pears. They pour it with great ceremony from a bottle held high in the air - a bit like they serve fino sherry in Jerez.

You can buy it from Highbury Vintners for £13 - they also suggest anchovies as a good match which sounds a good call.

I made another Txakoli my match of the week back in September so you can see I'm slightly obsessed with it at the moment. If you're a fan of Muscadet, Picpoul and Vinho Verde you’ll love it.