What to drink with Middle Eastern food?

With middle-eastern food still very much on-trend Dubai-based blogger Sally Prosser of mycustardpie.com tells us which drinks she thinks makes the best pairings

Can you remember a time when hummus didn’t fill the end of every supermarket aisle and come in ten different flavours? Now Middle Eastern influences in food are ubiquitous and restaurants abound, but what should you drink with a Middle Eastern meal?

Typically you’ll be served a wide range of mezze to start, from creamy, smoky baba ganoush, lemon-sharp tabouleh with fresh herbs, a fattoush or bread salad dusted with tangy sumac, vine leaves stuffed with rice and herbs, earthy hummus, delicate pastries stuffed with cheese, spinach or meat, spicy chicken livers and fried kibbeh coated in crunchy, cracked wheat with a lamb and pine nut filling. Some restaurants may even serve raw mezze such as finely minced spiced raw lamb kibbeh or cubes of uncooked liver eaten with garlic sauce and mint leaves.

The mezze course is usually followed by grilled meats, cooked over charcoal, which means an array of lamb chops, kebabs both with cubed meats and spicy, minced kofta, chicken and beef. So given this vast array of flavours, what would be a good choice of wine?

It’s quite a good rule of thumb that local food and wine go together. Regional cuisine has often evolved alongside wine making; Chianti complements the roast tomato-based dishes of Tuscany, for instance, and think how well a crisp Riesling cuts through the heaviness of a wiener schnitzel.

If you are looking for a local match (and don’t have the pleasure of sitting down to eat this spread in one of the countries of the Middle East that serve alcohol) then many winemakers in the Levant export widely; Chateau Musar from the Lebanon is probably the best known, with other Lebanese wines such as Chateau Kefraya, Chateau Ksara and Massaya following suit. Domaine de Bargylus is still managing to produce and export fine wine from Syria. The excellent St George wines of Jordan made by Zumat rarely make it outside the country. Morocco has the most established and extensive wine industry in North Africa with fourteen appellations, and Algeria is the biggest producer so there could be some interesting developments there when the local situation stabilises.

Don’t expect unusual grape varieties however. Although there have been vineyards in the region since biblical times (the Persians were making wine 7000 years ago) modern wine-making techniques, styles and grape varieties from other regions have been adopted across the board.

So what should you choose with a middle-eastern feast? Here are my top tips:

Reach for something pink

Choosing a wine to match this huge array of tastes and flavours could be a challenge, but my first choice would be a rosé. Altitude Rosé by Ixsir, a new winery in the Lebanon, is reminiscent of the fresh, crisp, dry styles of Provence, is one I’d recommend, and the spicy note in Ksara Sunset Rosé, made from Cabernet Franc and Syrah, goes well with mezze like muhammara (a red pepper and walnut dip).

Otherwise I would generally look to Southern France - you want a wine with enough fruit flavours but avoiding anything that’s sweet. Of late I’ve tasted some refreshing rosés from English vineyards such as Sharpham and wonderfully versatile Blanc de Noirs from South African Boschendal that I’d be happy to drink with a table of mezze.

Forget your ABC

Forget the buttery, rich, over oaked style that led to the ABC movement (anything but Chardonnay). A well-structured white from Burgundy could keep you going throughout the meal; a Rully would offer enough complexity but an entry-level white such at Drouhin’s La Forêt would do very well. The new world has learnt its lesson – look for wines that are unoaked and from cooler climate vineyards, for example Adelaide Hills in Australia and Walker Bay in South Africa.

Herbal essences

A wine to balance the intense flavours of the parsley and coriander in tabouleh or the mouth watering lemony acidity of fattoush is a tall order. I haven’t tested this match but I’m wondering if the herbal notes of Gewurztraminer might be the perfect foil? I’m a big fan of Vina Esmeralda from Torres, a muscatel/ Gewurz blend which makes very easy drinking. Don’t be put off by the green bottle which looks like it comes from the Wizard of Oz. A ‘dry as a bone’ well-chilled fino sherry would be fantastic with the vine leaves and mezze containing pine nuts. Another wine to try would be an herbaceous New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc.

Meat match

A savoury red from the Mediterranean seems the best place to start when looking for a match for the meat course. Over seven hundred years of Arab occupation affected Spanish culture profoundly including their cuisine. There’s a cultural continuity in choosing a Spanish wine.

I’d choose a spicy Rioja Crianza which would be versatile enough to go with chicken and dark meats but not overwhelming. For something with more body, I’d try a Nero d’Avola from Sicily, another part of the world where an Arab presence in the first century is still evident today in the distinct food of the island. This dark, inky wine is laced with black cherry and tobacco flavours, matching the charcoal smokiness of the food.

The family behind Domain du Vieux Télégraphe invested in Massaya and there’s some Rhone spiciness in Massaya Silver Selection that makes it a great match for grilled meats and one my favourite Lebanese reds.

I tasted many of the wines at an Arabic meal in Dubai with Ramzi Ghosn of the Massaya winery; the evening proved conclusively that these wines travel well. Rhône grape varieties (Cinsault and Carignan) also lend spice and fragrance to the deep berry flavours of Cabernet Sauvignon in Chateau Musar red; the 2004 vintage is drinking well now.

A spirited alternative

Food writer Anissa Helou confesses that she abandons wine altogether when she is in Lebanon and drinks the local aniseed spirit arak with water instead.

While mint tea or coffee is usual with sweet Arabic pastries you might try a glass of Marsala. The name of this fortified wine from Sicily comes from the Arabic marsa Allah (the harbour of God).

Without alcohol

I’ve been lucky enough to taste some wonderful wines over the 18 years I’ve lived and traveled in the Middle East but of course there are occasions when alcohol is not served either due to local regulations or to respect non-drinkers with whom you are sharing the meal.

Alcohol is forbidden in a few countries in the Middle East, notably Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, Yemen and Libya and may not be available in some areas. When I was hiking along the Lebanon Mountain Trail there were some valleys in the North of the country, which were alcohol free, and Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates is completely dry.

Wherever you are in the Arab world, water will usually be brought to the table without asking. In this part of the world where water is often in short supply it is prized; if you are dining with someone of importance, it is the done thing to fill up their glass with water. Fresh fruit juice will also be readily available - watermelon and pomegranate juices are particularly refreshing. I would avoid mango juice with a meal though as it can be very filling.

Sherbets are a cooling fruit juice cordial which are very popular in Egypt, but variations such as Sekanjabin (a Persian vinegar and sugar syrup) exist throughout the region. Laban or ayran is a popular yoghurt drink but not usually with lunch or dinner.

Mint tea or infusions are popular throughout the Middle East, usually served in small glass cups and with sugar. Coffee, which was first roasted and traded from Yemen (via the port of Mocha) is served in very small handle-less cups and can be mixed with different spices, usually saffron and cardamom. If you are at a gathering and would like a refill, keep the cup still; tip the cup from side to side if you do not.

Middle East Matching

As with all food and wine pairing, there is no right or wrong match and with such a wide array of tastes and textures in a Middle Eastern feast, discovering which wine works best for you is part of the fun. If you do get to taste the food in its country of origin, it's always worth trying the local wine.

Sally Prosser, the author of mycustardpie.com, a food and wine blog that was listed in The Independent’s top 50 food websites, has lived in the Middle East for 18 years, currently in Dubai, UAE. During this time she’s tasted coffee in Libya, champagne in Saudi and Kuwait, wine in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Oman and Jordan and a cocktail made with edible gold in Dubai! She’s furthered her interest in wine throughout this time (she took Jancis Robinson’s wine course book to Saudi Arabia) and gained Wines and Spirits Education Trust Advanced Level.

Top picture ©Bethany Kehdy of Dirty Kitchen Secrets.

Pairing wine and cheese with Max McCalman

An archive post from a fascinating tasting with maître fromager, educator and author Max McCalman, one of the US's foremost cheese experts, back in 2009.

"It might seem odd to go to New York City to taste cheese but it’s home some of the most exciting stores and tasting programmes in the cheese world. One of the key figures is Max McCalman of Artisanal Cheese, author of several excellent cheese books including Mastering Cheese: lessons for connoisseurship from a Maitre Fromager.

I was lucky enough to have a private tasting with him yesterday which produced some excellent combinations. We tried six cheeses, a number of which were new on me and two wines, a crisp, citrussy 2007 Fillaboa Albariño from Rias Baixas and a soft, damsony Portuguese red - a Vidigal Reserva 2005 from Estremadura. Here are my tasting notes and Max’s observations."

*** an outstanding match **a good match *Fine, no clashes. No stars: best avoided.

Laurier
A pasteurized goats' milk cheese from the Vermont Butter and Cheese Creamery. A surprisingly full-flavour for a pasteurized cheese - almost more cow-like than goat but with a lovely citrussy freshness. Predictably great with the Albariño which acquired some lovely crisp green apple notes ***. Rubbed along fine with the Vidigal Reserva*

Ibores
A tangy semi hard goats cheese from Extremadura in Spain, rubbed with pimenton which gave it a spicy edge (and a stand-out colour on a cheeseboard). Although Max and I agreed that geographical proximity doesn’t always make for great matches (Epoisses and red burgundy being a classic example) we both thought the Estremadura from over the border in Portugal was a good match ** The Albariño worked fine too**

Evora
This Portuguese unpasteurized sheep's cheese which is set the traditional way with cardoon rather than animal-based rennet was a new one on me and one of the stand-out cheeses of the tasting. It had a lovely clean fresh citrussy taste and crumbly texture that was terrific with the Albariño *** and worked well with the Estemadura too **

Robiola Rochetta
A luxuriant fresh Italian cheese made from mixed milks (cow, sheep and goat. Max is of the opinion that mixed milk cheeses often give you the best of all worlds - the creaminess of cow with the balancing acidity of goats cheese and tanginess of sheep cheese) It was a touch creamy for the Albariño* and the Estremadura red was fine ** but there’s probably a better pairing out there

Sbrinz
A crystalline parmesan-style cheese from Switzerland made from whole rather than semi-skimmed milk which gives it a fuller taste than parmesan. Very good with the Estremadura red***, fair with the Albariño* (Interestingly the tasting note on the Artisanal website recommends champagne as a pairing which I can imagine would be delicious)

Bleu d’Auvergne
A particularly fine example of this lesser known French blue - creamy, salty with a slightly crystalline finish. Really did no favours to the Albariño (no stars) though eating it with a slice of sourdough just about kicked it into touch with the Estremadura (*)

All in all there was a lot to be learned from this beautifully balanced and unusual cheeseboard which - note - avoided pungent washed rind cheeses and concentrated more on hard and semi-hard cheeses with a clean finish. (Soft cheeses like bloomy-rinded and semi-soft washed-rind cheeses have a mouthcoating quality that often set the palate up for a wine-clash though the bright primary fruit of New World reds can sometimes power through).

 

Moncada Brewery Notting Hill Red

This week I took part in a fun new way of discovering beer: Beer Bods live Twitter tastings and this was the beer we tried this week.

The ingenious idea is to encourage beer drinkers to experiment more by sending them a case of 12 bottles (not free, obviously - the quarterly subscription is £36). You then drink one of the beers each week at a suggested time (9pm on a Thursday evening) and compare notes on Twitter.

There’s also background on the beer you’re tasting on the site which revealed that Moncara was founded by a young Argentinian, Julio, who fell in love with British beer when he came to the UK as a student.

I must say they couldn’t have started with a better beer than the Notting Hill Red for me. It was deliciously full-flavoured (6%), fruity and refreshing with a good hit of American hops and an appealing herbiness. I could imagine drinking it with ‘asado’, Argentina’s much revered barbecue, especially their spicy garlicky sausages. And, of course, a steak.

Interestingly the beer is also ‘natural’ - i.e. they do not use any cask finings, a process that removes yeast particles but also strips out flavour, giving the beer more of a cloudy appearance than most commercially produced beers. They also recycle the by-products of the brewing process: the spent cereal goes to one of the farmers at the local farmers’ market, the hops are composed at a local wildlife garden and some of the yeast goes to a local baker.

The only downside I can see is that you wouldn’t necessarily be around every Thursday but you can still read the story behind the beer and check out what people have been saying about it on the site. (You hashtag your tweets #beerbods.) Interestingly not everyone liked the beer as much as I did - some found it too strong.

You can buy the beers through BeerBods during the week following their featured slot: Notting Hill Red is on sale until next Thursday - or maybe Wednesday - at 12 bottles for £30.

Incidentally BeerBods is a successful crowd-funded project (through crowdcube.com) which hit its initial £100,000 target in 24 hours. I think it’s a really clever idea and an ideal way of helping people like me discover new brewers. It would make a great gift for any beerlover.

Disclosure: I received a free three month subscription from Beer Bods to try out the scheme

How to drink vodka like a Russian

I have to admit I accepted Leonid Shutov’s invitation to taste vodka with some trepidation having heard tales of the hangovers that some of my colleagues had suffered as a result of their visits to his Soho restaurant Bob Bob Ricard.

My worst fears were confirmed when he insisted that our vodka shots should be downed in one but as it turned out his assertion that ‘that was the way it was done in Russia’ was not a line.

I Googled ‘How to drink Russian vodka’ afterwards and came up with this excellent article on BBC’s h2g2 which asserted that “a traditional Russian drinking bout is generally preceded by toasts, during which it is considered rude not to drain your glass 'bottoms up' as a sign of respect to whomever is being toasted.” And who was I to be disrespectful?

Anyway we were there (in theory) to try three antique vodkas and to explore how they went with food or ‘zakuski’ - the little tapa-sized appetisers that are vodka’s traditional partner.

The qualities that are valued in vodka in Russia, Leonid explained, are smoothness and lack of aftertaste - “flavour in vodka indicates you can’t afford a more expensive drink."

Until the1980’s Russian vodka - which is always made from wheat not from other grains or potato - was the only beverage that would be drunk throughout a meal but Leonid genuinely believes it brings out the flavour in food. “You see flavours shine in a way they wouldn’t on their own.”

All the vodkas we tried were served ice cold ( -18°F ) in small shot glasses - he disapproves of drinking it at room temperature.

We kicked off with Kauffman Collection Vintage 2006 (£65 from the Vodka Emporium, £69.99 from Fareham Wine Cellar) The use of the word 'vintage' in relation to vodka indicates that the grain it is made from comes from a particular year. This is a limited production vodka - just 5000 cases - and to me tasted very smooth, slightly sweet and woody (it is apparently sweetened with honey) and very slightly minty: a perfect foil to a dish of jellied ox tongue with horseradish flavoured cream (above) that would not have been out of place at a Victorian banquet. Horseradish is a spot-on match for vodka.

The next vodka was Kaufmann Luxury Vintage 2003 which is apparently flavoured with shizandra or extract of magnolia vine and costs a hefty £23 a shot at BBR (though you can buy a bottle for a comparatively modest £135 at Fareham Wine Cellar). Only 25,000 bottles are made and it takes fourteen distillations to achieve the requisite level of purity.

Not being a habitual vodka taster I struggled for a vocabulary in which to write my tasting notes but it was again very pure and smooth with a faintly toasty flavour that apparently comes from infusing it with dried wheaten bread crusts. It was partnered with blinis and (farmed) Beluga caviar from the Caspian sea which confirmed the conclusion I’d reached in a caviar tasting in New York that vodka and caviar is a great combination - the smoothness of the spirit helps you to appreciate the texture of the eggs. “You need a nice big mouthful” encouraged Leonid who told me he used to put away a pound of beluga a sittling in a previous life. He also sneaked in a shot of Stoli red to show how coarse it was by comparison. “You just taste the fatty acids.”

The third vodka was the silky Russian Standard Imperial (£32.95 a bottle from The Drink Shop), one of Russia’s best-selling premium vodkas - eight times distilled and filtered through quartz: “perfect for the effortless cosmopolitan" according to the website.This was served with herring cured Russian-style with cinnamon, cloves and allspice and warm potatoes which Leonid instructed us to eat in order. the warm potato after the herring. There were also some pickled cucumbers on the side - again, a totally natural register for the drink.

Frustratingly (and possibly unwisely) we then moved on to wine - a 1990 La Conseillante Pomerol which was solidly matched with a beef Wellington with truffled sauce and a half bottle of Chateau d’Yquem 2001 - served with a delicate Bramley and Cox Apple Jelly which it slightly overwhelmed. But after the vodkas, neither seemed quite as exciting as it should have done. I just wanted to get on with exploring other vodka pairings.

I dined at Bob Bob Ricard as a guest of the restaurant.