What wine (and other drinks) to pair with poke (updated)

If you haven’t heard of poke - the Hawaiian dish of cubed raw fish usually with rice and/or vegetables - you soon will. It’s everywhere (and pronounced, by the way, pokay not poke).

It’s not generally spicy so you don’t have to contend with that but usually has a dressing based on soy sauce which gives it an umami (savoury) character. 

It’s the sort of light dish you might have at lunchtime so alcohol might not even be appropriate though there are definitely wines - more often that not white or rosé - that will work well with it. 

There are also many alcohol-free options that go well, particularly citrussy ones, given that it more often than not features seafood.

Here are eight suggestions

Riesling
A crisp fresh young riesling - from the Okanagan Valley or Washington State, for example - would be delicious

Sauvignon Blanc
Generally good where seafood is involved and poke is no exception. I’d choose a citrussy style from Chile for example rather than the more powerful, punchy sauvignons from New Zealand

Grüner Veltliner
If in doubt turn to Austria’s Asian food-friendly Grüner Veltliner. Especially with Asian flavours

A fruity rosé
I tried a low alcohol (10%) off-dry English rosé based on pinot noir and meunier called A Little Bit from Westwell in Kent with a salmon poke and it was spot on.

Sake
Poke is actually not that different in flavour from sushi and although the Japanese wouldn’t traditionally drink a rice-based drink with rice there’s no reason why you shouldn’t.

A good crisp pils
C’mon! You can do better than a Bud! Buy a proper German pils or a crisp craft lager. They’ll both pair well with poke.

Pina colada
Bring back those retro cocktails! We should stop being sniffy about pina colada and drink it with the kind of food for which it was intended.

And thinking pineapple and coconut, pineapple juice would also be a good (and appropriately Hawaiian) pairing as would ultra-fashionable sweet, creamy coconut water. 

If you want to know more about poke read this excellent introduction from Bon Appetit.

Photo ©laplateresca at fotolia.com

The best food matches for Semillon and Semillon-Sauvignon blends

One of the world’s most underrated grapes yet capable of making some of its most delicious dry whites, Sémillon isn’t on the radar for many. So if you get hold of a bottle what should you pair with it?

Although there’s a marked difference between young unoaked Sémillon and those blended with its habitual stablemate Sauvignon Blanc it helps to look at it as similar to but less pungent than Sauvignon. Without that marked green, grassy edge that can make sauvignon too much of a good thing with foods that have herbaceous note of their own such as asparagus, peas and mangetout.

If I had to sum up the ideal match in a few words think shellfish, fish and spring vegetables. Here are a few more specific suggestions:

Hunter Valley Semillon and other lighter styles

The Hunter Valley in Australia is the place to go for Semillon and has its most distinctive style. Fresh and zippy when it’s young, more complex and oily (in a nice way) as it ages this is the perfect wine for raw and lightly cooked shellfish especially with Asian flavours. (Think the delicious kind of food you get in Sydney.) Remember Hunter Valley wines are light - generally only about 11-12% ABV. Try them with:

Oysters, especially with an Asian dressing - the best match bar none

Fresh crab

Clams

Sashimi

Seafood salads

Spring veg such as asparagus and peas - a pasta primavera would work well with a Hunter Valley Semillon

Dishes with fennel

Dishes with a touch of citrus

Lightly cooked fish dishes such as seabass and razor clams

Fried soft shell crab - I owe this one to my colleague Victoria Moore

Salt and pepper squid

Young goats’ cheese or salads with goats’ cheese

For older vintages try smoked fish such as smoked salmon, smoked trout and - this is surprisingly good - kedgeree

Barossa Valley Semillon and other richer styles

Fuller and riper, often with a lick of oak, Southern Australian Semillons can take richer fish and shellfish dishes and light meats like chicken and pork - again with an Asian accent. Try:

Scallops (probably my number one choice)

Grilled lobster, prawns or Moreton Bay bugs

Salmon and salmon trout

Fish or chicken in a creamy sauce such as this kingklip with prawns and a white wine sauce I had in South Africa

Seafood risotto

Thickly sliced ham off the bone

Roast gammon

Pork or chicken satay

Other spicy but not over-hot pork dishes

Grilled and barbecued fish

Semillon-Sauvignon blends

Found chiefly in the Margaret River region of Western Australia and in the Bordeaux region of France where it’s mainly oaked

For Australian sem-sauv I’d go for much the same sort of dishes as I would for a Hunter Valley Sémillon - perhaps a shade richer or with a little more citrus. This dish of pan-fried scallops with orange braised chicory, celeriac remoulade and lotus crisps was a perfect match or you could go for scallops with a pea purée. It would also stand up to a mild Thai green curry.

With oaked white Bordeaux I’d be looking at more classic French or European-style dishes like this light raviolo of prawns, simply cooked fish in butter like a Dover sole, poached salmon or a posh fish pie.

Photo © vsl at shutterstock.com

Which foods pair best with whisky?

I’ve been a bit of a sceptic in the past about pairing food with whisky. Not that there aren’t some great combinations but I find it hard to sustain for more than one dish.

Whisky distillers are constantly trying to persuade me to the contrary, inviting me to events pairing whisky with Indian or Italian food but it all seems slightly forced. Even for a whisky lover there are other drinks that work better.

However there are exceptions and here are some suggestions, divided up by whisky style, with some additional input from whisky writer Dave Broom. You may be suprised at some of the suggestions. Whisky with sushi? Whisky with smoked duck? Whisky with dark chocolate and ginger biscuits? Bring it on!

Light fragrant whiskies with a touch of sweetness 

Sushi (though whisky expert Dave Broom tells me that other styles can work well too)

Smoked salmon (especially wild salmon and other delicate smokes)

Dressed crab

Cullen skink (smoked haddock soup)

Cock-a-leekie (clear chicken and leek soup)

Parsnip soup

Kedgeree

Bread and butter pudding

Cranachan (whipped cream and whisky with toasted oatmeal and raspberries)

Soft, creamy cheeses

Medium bodied whiskies with some peat influence 

Smoked mackerel

Smoked mussels

Smoked oysters

Smoked duck

Smoked venison

Duck or chicken liver paté

Seared scallops and bacon

Black cod (Nobu-style) - also good with the Japanese whisky Hanyu King of Diamonds apparently

Haggis

Roast or braised pheasant

Pheasant or guineafowl with a creamy wild mushroom sauce

Full-bodied rich whiskies aged in sherry casks 

Seared or grilled steak

Char siu pork

Roast venison especially with caramelised/roast root vegetables

Rich fruit cakes e.g. Christmas cake

Christmas pudding

Mince pies

Pecan pie

Sticky toffee pudding

Gingerbread

Dark chocolate and ginger biscuits

Dark chocolate brownies

Mature cheddar

Washed-rind cheeses

Strong, peaty whiskies e.g. Lagavulin, Laphroaig

I’m cautious about these because of their powerful flavours but Dave urges you to be bold! He advocates scallops and bacon and dark chocolate (not on the same plate, obviously) with a peaty whisky, for example

Anchovy-based spreads or dips

Hot-smoked salmon

Bottarga

Haggis

Tea-smoked chicken

Mature farmhouse cheddar

Strong blue cheeses, especially Roquefort

See also these suggestions for peaty whiskies I came up with following a visit to Islay.

Bear in mind that some whiskies, especially cask-strength ones, may need a splash of water to work with food

Photograph by barmalini at shutterstock.com

The best wine pairings for turbot (updated)

Turbot is a luxurious fish you might well be serving over the holiday period, most probably roast or seared. But what sort of wine should you pair with it?

Personally I prefer a white to a red - a serious white burgundy or other equally lush full-bodied white.

It’s often served with a deeply savoury sauce, sometimes with mushrooms that suits a white with some bottle age.

Here are some whites to choose from

*oaked white Rioja - consistently undervalued, rich savoury fish dishes like this are where white rioja comes into its own.

*top quality Douro whites

*white Hermitage or white Saint Joseph - depending on your budget (in other words a Roussanne or Marsanne or blend of the two). And, by similar logic, a white Chateauneuf-du-Pape which is what we drank for my last big birthday as you can see here. 

*white Roussillon wines based on Grenache Gris and/or Grenache Blanc - or white Minervois as in this post

*white burgundy or other serious chardonnay - particularly if you’re serving your turbot with a buttery sauce such as beurre blanc. That includes aged Grand Cru Chablis

*aged dry white Bordeaux

*good quality Soave

*top quality vintage champagne is always a winner with rich fish. Here are 3 pairings from a Leclerc Briant lunch that made my Match of the Week slot.

*sake (I haven’t tried this I must confess but it strikes me it would work really well)

If you do want to drink red I’d suggest a mature red burgundy or other good quality pinot noir though there’s no reason why you shouldn’t drink a more robust red like a Bordeaux if the sauce includes red wine.

Image ©Jacek Chabraszewski at shutterstock.com