Six food pairings for gin that might surprise you

Given the immense popularity of gin the chances of you sitting in a bar downing a gin-based cocktail are pretty high. But at some point you're going to need something to eat so what kind of food can you pair with it?

There aren’t gin dinners (yet) in the same way there are whisky dinners but there are some dishes that work particularly well with gin - especially served simply as a G & T

The secret is in the botanicals ...

Paté

You know how you often season a paté with juniper berries? Well, stands to reason then that juniper-based gin should work too and it does.

Cucumber sandwiches

G & T with afternoon tea? Well, why not especially if your tastes run more to savoury things than sweet. Think cucumber sandwiches in particular (well, if it works in a Hendrick's, why not on the plate?). Egg sarnies, crab and smoked salmon sandwiches are good too.

Prawn toasts

I stumbled on this by accident (how many of the best discoveries happen) and they’re just brilliant with a G & T. As are veggie spring rolls

A Chinese-style seafood supper

Indian street snacks

Same principle. Deep-fried, spicy food, refreshing botanicals. Try it!

Fish & chips

This is a bit more counter-intuitive - after all you may be longing for a glass of Cava or a good cup of tea but it’s a really refreshing contrast to that rich batter. Gin can take a bit of garlic too if you want to serve a dollop of aioli on the side

For other good fish & chip matches click here

Strong pongy cheeses

Actually it’s the Dutch version of gin, genever, that works particularly well but a slightly earthy gin like Bathtub or Plymouth gin can easily handle a powerful pongy cheese like a Epoisses or Stinking Bishop. Serve it as a shot though (maybe with a tiny splash of water) rather than diluted with tonic. (By contrast fresh goats cheeses apparently pair well with a citrussy G & T according to online spirits store Alexander and James

Can any wine stand up to Stinking Bishop?

What wine to pair with cherry desserts

Cherry is one of the fruit flavours most often found in wine and liqueurs so does that make them a good pairing for cherry desserts? It depends how intense the cherry flavour is.

A clafoutis, for example, (a French batter pudding with cherries) is as much about the crisp batter as the cherries so it could take a light sweet dessert wine such as a Monbazillac while a boozy dish of macerated cherries might well need something stronger - or given the booze is in the pud - arguably nothing at all!

With a black forest gateau or other dessert that combines chocolate and cherries try a sweet red wine such as a Recioto della Valpolicella, late harvest Tannat or late harvest Zinfandel. Alternatively you could opt for a cherry-flavoured liqueur such as cherry brandy which you could either serve in a pretty liqueur glass or as a frozen shot. (That’s also a good pairing for cherry ice-cream, cherry sundae or cherry trifle.)

Cherry-flavoured beers e.g. Kriek are also a great match with cherry desserts, as you can see from my recommendation with this chocolate roulade recipe from my book An Appetite for Ale. I also like their slight tartness with a cherry-topped cheesecake. They make delicious fruit jellies too - as in this recipe, again from the Appetite for Ale book.

And cherry pie? I’m never totally convinced about wine and pies especially if they’re served hot. It depends on the proportion of pastry to filling. If it’s more about the pie crust go for a standard sweet dessert wine as with clafoutis or a gently sparkling brachetto d’acqui. If there is more filling than pastry I’d be inclined to go for a sweet red again, maybe even a fruity young ruby port.

What wine would you drink with Pad Thai?

What’s the best wine for pad thai? Well, it’s a dish you might well not think of pairing with wine at all but according to a report on the blog Musings from Thailand, an adviser to the Thai government has suggested a campaign to link French wine and Pad Thai as a way to promote Thai food overseas.

I'm not sure they're thinking along the right lines though. The picture on the post is of a red wine - possible of course - but I would definitely prefer a white.

For those of you who are not familiar with pad Thai it's a traditional street dish of noodles which generally includes sugar, tamarind, dried shrimp and fish sauce and is served with chilli and lime.

You could drink something like a cru Beaujolais or a young pinot noir but if I was going for a French wine I'd plump for an aromatic white - an Alsace riesling or sylvaner or a zesty sauvignon blanc from the Loire. Dry riesling from elsewhere would also work, obviously, or a Marlborough sauvignon from New Zealand.

For most people though beer is the more obvious pairing for a pad thai - a lager I suggest and there are plenty of alcohol-free drinks that would also work. The other day I had a ginger and lime soda with my pad thai at Rosa’s in Spitalfields. Kombucha would be a good pairing too.

See also What wines and other drinks pair best with noodles.

Which wines pair best with eggs?

Eggs are supposed to be one of the trickiest ingredients to pair with wine but I’ve never entirely got it myself. More to the point do you want to drink wine with eggs at breakfast or even brunch, the time you’re most likely to eat them?

If you do, read on ...

Here I’m talking mainly about dishes where eggs are centre stage rather than the myriad dishes in which they play an essential but supporting role like quiche, meringues and soufflés. For example poached eggs (often with an egg-based sauce like hollandaise), scrambled eggs and omelettes.

Bear in mind that the addition of other ingredients makes a difference - how much depends on whether they overwhelm the essential egginess of the dish. Smoked salmon with scrambled eggs not so much, the peppery sauce of shakshuka a lot.

These are the wines I think pair with eggs best:

Champagne and other sparkling wines

My number one choice both in terms of compatibility and occasion though I’d go for a lighter style rather than a rich toasty one (unless truffles and/or chips are involved as in this sublime dish last year). Chardonnay-based sparkling wines, also known as blanc de blancs are perfect. Personally I think prosecco is a little sweet but up to you. I’d prefer a crémant or cava.

Smooth dry white wines

Think basic white burgundy and other unoaked chardonnays, Alsace pinot blanc, dry chenin blanc and Soave. Those wines would also go with omelettes and frittatas and with that retro (but rather delicious) classic, eggs mornay (eggs with cheese sauce).

What to drink with an omelette or frittata.

With a richer dish such as eggs benedict you could up the oak a bit and go for a more full-bodied chardonnay

The best wine pairings for eggs benedict

Inexpensive claret

Once you introduce meaty elements such as bacon and sausages you might feel more inclined to drink a red. Nothing too fruity, I suggest (think about the combination of raspberries or cherries with eggs. Not so appealing, huh?) but a simple young red Bordeaux works surprisingly well.

Robust southern French or Spanish reds

Good with eggs and chorizo, shakshuka and other dishes where tomatoes, peppers or pimenton are involved.

Red burgundy

Red burgundy works with a very specific dish from the region called oeufs en meurette where the eggs are cooked in a red wine sauce. Not my top choice otherwise.