Top food pairings for cider (updated)

Cider has been going through the same quality revolution as beer did a few years ago. In the last 12 months I’ve tasted more interesting ciders than I have in the last 12 years.

So it’s a shame we don’t take it more seriously as a partner for food especially as many are now bottled in handsome-looking full-sized bottles.

There are many different styles, obviously, but here are the type of foods I think pair best with cider and some avenues that I think might be worth exploring:

Creamy or cider-based sauces

This is cider’s natural territory and the most useful type of dish to think to think in terms of (rather than focussing on chicken, pork or seafood which can be prepared in so many different ways). The sort of sauces you find in Normandy which, of course is cider’s heartland.

Think also of chicken casseroles or pies cooked with cider and sausages with cider (any dish cooked with onion and apples is an obvious match. Try this West Country Chicken Casserole with cider, apple and celery).

Creamy pasta bakes

Same reasoning as the above

Quiche

Especially quiche lorraine and leek quiche

Creamy vegetable or chicken soups - onion, mushroom, celery, fennel, leek . . .

Creamy risottos with similar flavourings

Ham and other cold cuts

Hot or cold. Cider is a good partner for boiled or roast gammon (and can also be used in the cooking liquid) and lovely with fat chunks of ham cut off the bone. It’s also good with other pork-based products like patés, terrines and rillettes (without too much garlic) and brawn or jambon persillé, Melton Mowbray (and other) pork pies and Scotch eggs.

Salads

Particularly those based on chicken, ham or cheese with a light creamy dressing or with apple as an ingredient though this smoked mackerel salad with pickled cucumber (below) was a winner with a traditional Spanish ‘ancestral’ cider.

Salmon

Try a dry cider with smoked or cured salmon like this dish with pickled apple and a dill emulsion I had in Norway last year. 

Brittany/Normandy style savoury crèpes

A terroir-based match. I particularly like buckwheat pancakes filled with ham or spinach and cheese and a Normandy cidre bouché (literally cider with a cork or sparkling cider)

Roast pork, especially with apples

Roast pork belly is great with cider. Especially with black pudding. Roast chicken too as you can see from this pairing.

Cheese

A great area to explore. Camembert and Camembert-style cheeses are the outstanding pairings but Cheddar and other English territorial cheeses such as Cheshire and Caerphilly, semi-hard cheeses like Gruyère, Beaufort and Appenzeller are all good. Pick a drier, lighter cider with goats’ cheese and a slightly sweeter one with washed rind cheeses like Pont L’Eveque and Stinking Bishop (neither of which should be too far gone) or a mellow, creamy blue like Barkham Blue. Cooked dishes like cauliflower cheese work with cider too.

More speculative matches

Pheasant and other feathered game

This is more speculative territory but I have a feeling more rustic, dry unfiltered ciders would go with dishes like pot roast pheasant with apples in much the same way as a gueuze. It works with a pheasant terrine as you can see from this Match of the Week so why not?

Mild curries

You could also try a medium dry cider with spicy Indian snacks or with a mild curry like a korma

Sweet and sour pork

So long as the ‘sweet’ element wasn’t too sweet and the cider had some sweetness of its own.

Basque style dishes with pimenton (paprika) and peppers

The Basque country either side of the Spanish border is also a big cider drinking area so it stands to reason they must drink it with Basque cuisine. Definitely worth trying.

Apple or apricot-based cakes and puddings

With sweeter ciders. I suspect they would work well with bread pudding and gingerbread too.

Image ©JPC-PROD at Shutterstock.com

What to pair with Camembert: 5 great drink matches

Although it seems similar in style to Brie, Camembert is a trickier cheese to pair with a slightly funky edge that can clash with many wines, particularly reds.

Fortunately, coming from Normandy there is another option and that is cider and other apple based drinks such as Pommeau and Calvados, depending on how well-matured your Camembert is. If you don’t drink and the cheese is mild apple juice is actually a very good pairing.

Here are my top picks:

Cider

The obvious ‘terroir’-based match. The slight bitterness of cider apples suits Camembert perfectly particularly if you’re eating the rind. Sparkling cider is possibly even better . . .

Pommeau

Stronger than cider, this blend of cider and calvados is ideal when your cheese has reached the oozy stage.

Champagne

Maybe that’s a surprise but the bubbles really work with a gooey Camembert, especially if it’s been baked

Chenin Blanc

Has a touch of apple itself and generally the weight and smoothness to partner the cheese provided it’s not got too mature. Loire chenins such as Montlouis and Vouvray are relatively local anyway or try a Chenin Blanc from South Africa

A soft fruity red

If you want to drink red go for one with a good whack of bright berry fruit like a New Zealand Pinot Noir, a Chilean Merlot or a Carmenère. I’d aim for one of 13-13.5% ABV. You don’t want too big and tannic a wine - or one that’s too light, acidic or weedy.

Tip: Camembert is a cheese to eat when it's fully matured. Keep it too long though and it will become bitter

Six of the best drink pairings for kale

Although there's not quite the feverish frenzy there was about kale a couple of years ago there's still a lot of kale lurve around.

The reason of course is its well-documented health benefits which might suggest you shouldn’t be drinking alcohol with it at all but there are many dishes containing kale with which it would be pleasant to have a drink.

With its slightly bitter taste kale also has an impact on wine when it's served as a vegetable: it’ll tend to make any wine taste sweeter so you may want to serve it with both reds and whites that have a good level of acidity. That effect can be counteracted though if you serve it with something like chorizo that has a stronger flavour. Then you should match the chorizo rather than the kale

* Apple-flavoured drinks especially apple juice and cider work well with salads that include kale such as this one. Or try a grüner veltliner.

* Fresh carrot and beet-based juices

* Italian white wines such as Gavi are good with creamy pasta dishes with cavolo nero

* Fresh-tasting natural reds such as young syrah and mencia from Spain’s Bierzo region are good with hearty stews and soups that are based on kale. If they include a spicy sausage like chorizo you could serve a fuller bodied red like a Rioja crianza or a red from Portugal’s Alentejo region.

*Tuscan reds like Chianti work well when kale is used as an accompaniment for lamb or game with polenta

* Give kale an oriental spin with soy or sesame and you could drink a sake

And of course kale can be served IN a drink rather than paired WITH one. You’ll find some good ideas on my friend Monica Shaw’s blog Smarter Fitter blog.

If you enjoyed this post you may also find my posts on pairing wine and cauliflower and wine and brussels sprouts useful.

8 great wine matches for brussels sprouts

The idea of doing a post on wine matches with brussels sprouts might strike you as a tad over the top - after all who eats sprouts on their own? (Answer: me. Whenever I get the chance.)

I’m not the only one it seems. When I've posted these sprout pictures on Instagram they've got an amazing number of ‘likes’. There’s some serious sproutlurve out there.

For those who are resolutely anti-sprout a reminder that they are no longer the soggy, sulphurous veg of your youth but can be served all manner of delicious ways. And it’s a myth that none of them work with wine. Here are 8 and the wines (and other drinks) that match with them.

Sprouts with bacon or pancetta and chestnuts

Probably the favourite sprout dish of the festive season. I’d be inclined to serve them with the same sort of red as the turkey - in other words a gutsy Rhône or Languedoc red. If they’re roasted or pan-fried they can handle a bit of tannin

Sprouts with chorizo

Has to be Spanish really. I’m rooting for Rioja reserva.

Stir-fried sprouts

Any sprout dish with Asian-style seasonings such as fish sauce, sesame and soy would be good with a Gruner Veltliner. Or a dry-ish riesling. Or, better still, a sake.

Sprouts with cheese

Roast sprouts and baked Camembert is a surprisingly good combination and one which goes well with a simple white burgundy like a Maçon Villages. Or a medium-dry cider. You should also try sprouts with Tallegio (once sampled - and never forgotten - on a pizza in New York). I’d drink a Gavi with that.

Sprout gratin

Involves cream so think Chablis or chardonnay again

Shaved sprouts with pecorino (or parmesan)

Enjoyed at my favourite Bristol wine bar Bar Buvette. With a dry Vouvray which was perfect.

Sprout slaw

Depends a bit on the seasoning and what you serve it with. With the Christmas leftovers, for example, I’d quite fancy a Beaujolais or other chilled gamay. With Ottolenghi’s brussel sprout and ginger slaw I’d go for a Clare Valley riesling

Sprouts with citrus

Ottolenghi again. Needs a white with some tropical fruit character such as a lush sauvignon-semillon blend or a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc

If you're a leafy green vegetable fan you can also check out my drink pairings for kale and cauliflower