A surprisingly good pairing for air-dried ham

Think of an air-dried ham such as serrano and you probably think of tapas and therefore fino or manzanilla sherry. But I’ve experienced two recent wine matches which opened my eyes to another option that even those on a diet could enjoy!

One was the other day in a local Bristol wine bar (Coulters) which has about 20 wines by the glass together with some simple plates of cold meats and cheese. We stopped by for a pit-stop towards the end of a long walk and ordered a couple of glasses of Prosecco and a plate of serrano ham and were struck by just how good the combination was.

Then last night I was at the London launch for the new season’s Joselito gran reserva ham and they were rather strangely pouring Ruinart champagne - presumably to underline what a great delicacy it was. It reminded me that I have in fact experienced this combination before: the indefatigable Richard Geoffroy of Dom Perignon decided that Iberico ham was the perfect match for his wine. Italian Culatello too. The yeastiness of champagne picks up on the umami savouriness of the ham and the bubbles play beautifully against the creamy fat.

What’s most interesting though is that in both cases we were eating the ham without any accompanying bread which accentuated its flavours and the texture of the wine. And of course makes it the perfect elegant, low-carb snack!

Wines to pair with fennel

Fennel is one of the handful of vegetables that can influence a main course pairing - almost always for the better. Its aniseed flavour seems to have a pronounced affinity with many wines, especially whites. Here are some suggested matches with recipes that two British chefs have published this weekend - Gordon Ramsay in the Times and Skye Gyngell in the Independent on Sunday.

Skye Gyngell’s recipes

Roast pork belly with roasted fennel
Fennel is a brilliant foil for the fattiness of pork and here it’s used both as a spice to season the meat and roast alongside the meat with more fennel seeds, chilli and lemon juice and peel. The latter, particularly, are punchy flavours that need an assertive wine as an accompaniment. I’d be inclined to turn to Italy for an intensely flavoured contemporary dry white such as a Greco di Tufo from Feudi di San Gregorio or, if you prefer red, a Chianti Classico.

Salad of rocket, cooked spinach and shaved fennel
Here a couple of other ingredients vie with the fennel for attention, the cooked spinach and the lemon zest and juice used to dress it. There’s also wine-friendly parmesan (though 100g, I have to say, sounds an awful lot). I think I’d recommend a dry white again here, probably Italian again (Italian whites and fennel seem to have a real affinity) and something quite straightforward like a Verdicchio or even a good Soave (I was drinking a Pieropan Soave last night with an intensely lemony dressing and it worked really well)

Sea bass with fennel pure
A dream dish for white burgundy lovers. There’s butter and cream in the pure as well as fennel which are the perfect foil for a classy Chardonnay. Oaked white Bordeaux would work too.

Gordon Ramsay’s recipes

Pan-roasted trout and caramelised fennel with a watercress and hazelnut salad
Quite a complex dish. The fennel is given a sweet-sour treatment with sugar and sherry vinegar and the salad is dressed with a dressing that includes hazelnut oil which adds to the nuttiness of the salad. I’d actually enjoy a lightly chilled dry amontillado or palo cortado with this but realise that wouldn’t be to everyone’s taste. A oaked (but not over-oaky) Chardonnay would also be an enjoyable match. The oak should pick up on the nuts.

Paprika pork chops with fennel and apple coleslaw
Actually the pork chops are not just seasoned with paprika but chilli powder, dark muscovado sugar, star anise, cinnamon and rosemary and the salad has a hot dressing that includes sugar and cider vinegar so the fennel plays second fiddle really. Winewise I’d probably go for a robust Côtes du Rhône Villages like a Vacquéyras but actually this is more a beer dish than a wine one. An amber ale or lager would hit the spot perfectly, I think.

Chilled fennel and melon soup with crab garnish
A dressy cold soup that will also have sweet and savoury notes. The fennel and melon will probably cancel each other out as a dominant influence so I’d take the crab as the ingredient to match. Spanish Albariño is a pretty safe bet with soups and should go well with both the crab and the soup.

Wine and pepper

Like salt, pepper has a pronounced effect on wine, often making reds taste softer and lusher than they otherwise would. Unlike salt though, you also find peppery flavours in wines such as Northern Rhône Syrah and Austrian Grüner Veltliner.

The problem about finding the same flavour in a food and a wine is that the more dominant flavour in the food tends to knock out the same characteristic in the wine. (Other examples are orange Muscat which won’t stand up to an orange-flavoured dessert or an evolved Pinot Noir whose mushroomy notes become barely perceptible if partnered with cooked mushrooms.)

So what do you drink when pepper is the point of the dish? Here are my suggestions, paired with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s recipes in the Guardian today.

Salt and Pepper Squid
There’s not just black pepper in this dish but Szechuan pepper and chilli as well which makes it hot. Winewise you could go two ways - a zesty unoaked Sauvignon Blanc which would provide a lemony lift to the combination or a crisp, limey Australian Riesling which I think would be my preferred match. (Note the pairing will change if you add a squeeze of lemon. Try the wine first and proceed with caution! ) I’d also like a cold Kölsch or lager with this.

Goats' cheese marinated in seasoned olive oil
Sauvignon Blanc is always the first port of call with goats’ cheese but the flavours in the olive oil - garlic, lemon zest, black and pink peppercorns and chilli again - mean only a super-charged Sauvignon will do. Pick one that has powerful lemon zest notes of its own such as a south Australian Sauvignon Blanc or a Chilean one. (Yes, I know I said don't replicate the flavours of the food in the wine but I just don't think a herbaceous Sauvignon will work here.)

Steak in Green Peppercorn Sauce
Green peppercorns used to be a common basis for steak sauces like this. It also contains cream and brandy, an immensely wine-friendly partnership. I think I’d be looking for a Syrah or Shiraz but one without obvious peppery notes of its own, maybe in combination with its other habitual southern French bedfellows, Grenache and Mourvèdre. So a Languedoc red such as Faugères would be perfect. Or a Western Australian Shiraz. (Note: all this pepper will accentuate the sensation of ‘hotness’ in any accompanying wine so watch the alcohol!)

Wines - and other drinks - to match recipes from the Ottolenghi Cookbook

The book I’ve been looking forward to most so far this year has just started being serialised in the Guardian today. It’s by Yotam Ottolenghi who founded two exceptional London restaurants and is simply called Ottolenghi: the Cookbook. l love Ottolenghi's food - it’s so generous and big-flavoured, piled high on bright, colourful platters - you can't fail to be tempted by it. It also lends itself perfectly to entertaining for large numbers at home.

Char-grilled asparagus, courgettes and manouri
Manouri, Yotam explains, is a Greek semi-soft cheese - you could substitute goats cheese or halloumi. Normally the asparagus would be the dominant flavour but the vegetables are dressed with a very rich home-made basil oil (which I can't wait to make) that makes me think that a dry Italian white such as a Gavi di Gavi or a Soave would be a better option.

Radish and broad bean salad
Another fresh-tasting salad with a very punchy dressing made from tahini paste, lemon juice and garlic. The salad also has a lot of lemon juice and some preserved lemon in it which makes for a lot of acidity so I’m not sure you need wine on top of all that. Personally I’d be drinking this with sparkling water or fresh fruit juice and water mixed (pomegranate would be nice) but if you’re serving it to friends you will probably want a bottle to pour. The best bet, I think would be a dry French or Spanish rosé.

Seafood, fennel and lime salad
An exotic seafood and fennel salad, seasoned with garlic lime and chilli. I think I’d go for a classic seafood white such as a Picpoul de Pinet or Albariño with this. Or even a Greek Assyrtiko.

Kosheri
An Egyptian dish of rice and lentils topped with fried onions and a spicy, sharp tomato sauce. Lentils normally lead to red wine but there’s quite a lot of chilli heat and vinegar in the sauce that makes it a slightly tricky dish to match. If you do go for red I’d make it a rustic one without too much obvious oak, something like a Côtes du Rhône Villages. But I actually think you’d enjoy a beer better. A good pilsner, I’d suggest.

Harissa-marinated chicken with red grapefruit salad
Wow! Here you have everything. Hot chilli, bitter/acid grapefruit and a sweet and sour dressing of grapefruit, lemon juice and maple syrup. The only thing I can think of that would work wine-wise is a big fruity ros - something like Charlie Melton’s Rosé of Virginia from southern Australia or an Argentinian or Californian Syrah rosé. Whatever you do you don’t want tannin. Otherwise I think you’d be looking at something like a pitcher cocktail - something like a Seabreeze (vodka, cranberry juice and grapefruit juice).

Macadamia and white chocolate brownies
Interesting that Yotam has put coffee in these brownies. I’d be looking at coffee too - an espresso or black Americano - to counteract the intense sweetness but that’s probably because I haven’t got a sweet tooth. Cold milk is great with brownies too.