Six of the best drinks to pair with a scotch egg

For those unfamiliar with the delicacy a scotch egg is a whole egg wrapped in sausagemeat, then coated in breadcrumbs and deep-fried.

Traditionally the egg would have been hard boiled but more recently the fashion has been to serve them soft and even runny like this version from the Opera Tavern. And in some cases - presumably in a vain attempt to make them more healthy - they’re now baked which is wrong on every level.

The classic pork casing has also been subject to endless variations from black pudding to smoked haddock which seems more like an outsized croqueta. The venerable National Trust even does a pea and mint scotch egg while Sainsbury’s magazine offers a teriyaki chicken one.

But assuming your scotch egg is of the classic British variety the six drinks I would go for are

Cider

Better than beer IMHO, apple being a natural accompaniment to pork. Particularly good with a pork and leek scotch egg.

Apple juice

By the same token apple juice is the best option for non-drinkers

A pale ale or IPA

You want a beer with a touch of sweetness so a contemporary pale ale or IPA is better than a classic bitter, particularly if you like a dollop of piccalilli on the side

Cava

Champagne is a bit posh for a scotch egg and prosecco a touch sweet but Spanish cave just hits the spot, especially if you’re a fan of a runny yolk. (Fizz is one of the wines that can deal with eggs and always a good match for deep-fried food)

Which wines pair best with eggs?

Rosé

With a summery scotch egg with salad (and even salad cream) you can’t beat a glass of rosé

A glass of fruity Bordeaux

Given that a scotch egg is half way to being a cooked breakfast and that Bordeaux goes surprisingly well with bacon and eggs I reckon it’s a good wine to drink with a classic Scotch egg too. I don’t mean some treasured old bottle from the cellar but a young juicy fruity claret of which there are plenty. Much-maligned merlot would be great too.

See also Top wine - and other - matches for sausages

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The best wine pairing for steak (updated)

Steak is a natural partner for red wine, but is there a definitive “best” red for steak?

While it’s easy to say that any good red will do, you can fine tune the match. The cut of the steak, the way it’s cooked, and the sauce you choose all play a role in determining which wine will work best with your dish. And if you’re not a red wine drinker you can even pair steak with white wine too.

Here are the key factors to bear in mind when you’re choosing a wine for steak:

How rare or well done it is
The rarer a steak is the more it will lessen the sensation of tannin in any accompanying wine. So if you have a young or comparatively young full-bodied red - a cabernet sauvignon or malbec, for instance - a rare steak will make it taste smoother and more mellow

How charred the outside of the steak is
The more charred a steak is the more ripeness/sweetness you want in your wine. A Coonawarra or Napa Valley cabernet for example or a Stellenbosch cabernet sauvignon.

How much fat there is on the cut
The fattier a steak is the more robust a wine it needs. Rhône reds or other syrah or GSM (grenache/syrah/mourvèdre) blends are perfectly suited to ribeye steaks while a leaner fillet steak pairs better with a pinot noir.

What sauce you’re serving with it
Sauces make a difference. A rich red wine sauce like my Essential Steak Sauce will need a wine that can stand up to it like a malbec or a good quality red Bordeaux. (If you’re making the sauce yourself drink a wine of slightly better quality than you used to make the sauce).

With a peppercorn sauce you don’t want a wine that’s too oaky and/or high in alcohol or it may make each mouthful too spicy. A ripe Rhône or Languedoc red such as a Minervois should work well.

With a béarnaise sauce a pinot noir is a good match or you could even drink a rich white like a Meursault or other full-bodied chardonnay.

With a punchy Argentine chimichurri sauce malbec is the obvious go to.

How old the wine is
If you’re serving an older red ease back on the saucing and serve the wine with its natural juices. If it’s a very old vintage you might even want to serve the steak medium-rare rather than rare - and hold the salad.

My 5 best wines for steak

All that said these are the wines I regularly go back to with steak and which won’t let you down. (Basically we’re talking full-bodied reds)

1. Malbec (especially Argentinian malbec)

Malbec has earned its place as a go-to steak wine, particularly those from Argentina. Why? They’re satisfyingly rich, smooth and plummy - real crowd pleasers. Look out particularly from wines from the Uco Valley.

Check out this idea for a Steak and Malbec supper 

2. Cabernet and cabernet/merlot blends e.g. red Bordeaux

Elegant structured cabernet sauvignon such as the ones you get from the Napa Valley are fantastic with most steaks - equally so when the wine has a proportion of merlot. Steak is probably the ideal way to show off a special bottle, especially with a classic red wine sauce

See also Six of the best pairings for Cabernet Sauvignon

3. Merlot

Merlot is generally softer, smoother and more velvety than cabernet on its own so well suited to leaner cuts like fillet and rump. It goes well with mushrooms too

See also Which foods pair best with merlot

4. Shiraz/syrah

Both shiraz and syrah work with steak in slightly different ways. Australian shiraz in the same way as cabernet sauvignon and malbec - it’s a similarly full bodied red to serve with a nicely charred steak cooked over the coals. Syrah is more savoury - a better choice with a classic steak frites.

See also six of the best food pairings for Australian shiraz

5. ‘Supertuscans’ and other modern Tuscan reds

Although Chianti Classico is a great pairing for the classic bistecca alla Fiorentina more modern Tuscan reds which contain a higher proportion of cabernet and merlot are probably a more versatile match if you’re serving a steak with a creamy sauce or lots of sides.

See also

The best wine pairings for steak tartare

The best wine and beer pairings for a steak pie

You can also serve steak with sake as you can see from this free post

Top image by Natalia Lisovskaya at shutterstock.com

6 of the best drink pairings for Brie (updated)

One of the world’s most popular cheeses, brie can be mild and slightly chalky or decadently gooey and quite strong in flavour.

The best wine pairing for brie will mainly depend on the maturity of the cheese rather than the origin. I wouldn’t recommend radically different drinks for a Somerset brie than a Brie de Meaux, for example (although there’s always the local cider!).

Basically you should think of lighter wines in terms of younger milder cheeses and more structured ones for more mature intensely flavoured ones.

Wine might be the obvious beverage to turn to but there are other drinks that work well too including beer and aperitifs. And I’ve. suggested a couple of alcohol-free alternatives too. 

Six top drink pairings for Brie

* Fruity reds such as New Zealand or Chilean Pinot Noir. (More mature bries or brie-style cheeses will need more powerful structured wines such as those from Central Otago.) Or try a fruity (but not too tannic) Merlot or a ripe ‘cru’ Beaujolais from a good vintage such as 2022. For milder bries a basic Beaujolais Villages is better

* A fruity dry rosé - lovely on a picnic

* A creamy, subtly oaked chardonnay - even a posh white burgundy!

* A cherry or raspberry-flavoured fruit beer (Kriek or Frambozen), particularly when the brie is accompanied by fresh cherries.

* A red berry fruit-flavoured cider. I’m not normally a fan but they do work well with brie. 

* Guignolet (a cherry-flavoured French aperitif) by the same logic.

If you’re looking for an alcohol-free alternative think in terms of similar red fruit flavours. Cranberry juice and pomegranate juice would both be good options.

See also Pairing wine and cheese: 6 ways to do it better

Photo by Liudmyla Chuhunova at shutterstock.com

Six of the best wine pairings for roast or baked ham

If you’re serving a ham or gammon as a roast this Thanksgiving or Christmas you need a more full-bodied wine with it than when you serve ham as a cold cut. Which one depends on the glaze.

Recipes vary hugely but generally include some element of sweetness to counteract the saltiness of the meat. There may be spice in the glaze too which calls for a red with generous ripe fruit - in other words an element of sweetness too. 

Good wine and Christmas ham pairings 

Grenache and grenache blends

Providing your glaze isn’t too sweet try a grenache or grenache blend from the South of France or Australia. That includes Côtes du Rhône but also the popular blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre, often shortened to GSM.

Medium to full-bodied shiraz

But not too alcoholic or tannic, I’d suggest. Lovely ripe juicy fruit is just what you want with ham

Chilean merlot or carmenère

Soft and ripe, just the ticket. Good value, too.

Beaujolais

Not the light, gulpable kind but a serious ‘cru’ Beaujolais like a Morgon. For those who like ‘old world’ wines with a bit more acidity

Central Otago pinot noir

The richest of New Zealand’s pinot noirs this would work particularly well with sweeter glazes or ones that include star anise or five spice

Barossa semillon

Semillon tastes of pineapple and pineapple and ham go together so semillon and ham should be a perfect match, right? Absolutely, but I’d go for rich lush Barossa Valley semillon rather than the lighter Hunter Valley style.

And for the leftovers I’d suggest a light juicy Beaujolais or other gamay, a lighter pinot noir or a Chablis.

You may also find this post 20 Christmas wine pairings to learn by heart useful.

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