Fine Wine and Fast Food

The news that Greggs, the mass market bakery was opening a champagne bar in Fenwick in Newcastle created a predictable storm of publicity this week (good on them!) but the idea of matching fine wine with fast food is nothing new. 

Here’s a feature I wrote for Decanter magazine 17 years ago which admittedly didn’t include sausage rolls or steak bakes but easily could have done. Back in 2014, after a trip to Edinburgh, I suggested champagne too!

Anyway enjoy it and regard it as licence to crack open a serious bottle with your favourite takeaway. ‘High-low’ as it’s called nowadays is definitely a trend. Here’s the article as it appeared back in 2007

Fine wine and fast food

One of the most enjoyable food and wine matches I’ve experienced was also the most serendipitous. The family were away, I was working on a book and staggered down half way through the evening to find the fridge virtually bare except for a half bottle of Krug, a half-empty packet of the kids’ fish fingers and some frozen spinach. Ten minutes later, the spinach well anointed with butter, the fish fingers grilled and the Krug poured I had the perfect supper.

Since then various wine lovers have confessed to me their secret pleasures: bacon and eggs or hamburgers with cru class Bordeaux, kebabs with Cote Rotie, champagne with popcorn and it’s made me question why we generally save our best wines for special occasions.

Why pour them for friends who may not appreciate them when you could be tucked up on the sofa with a takeaway and a good DVD and have them all to yourself?

Why create unnecessary competition for your best wines in the form of redundant foams and sticky jus? Let the wine be the hero.

In the interests of encouraging you to hang loose with your cellar I conducted a few experiments courtesy of Decanter’s wine cupboard and a selection of local takeaways.

Needless to say I’m not encouraging you to head for your local McDonald’s - fast food needn’t be foul food - but if even Robert Parker takes his favourite bottles along to his local Chinese as he once told me when I interviewed him - why shouldn’t you?

Armando Ascorve Morales at unsplash.com

Burgers and Bordeaux ****
Why it worked
First stop the local gourmet burger outfit, Gourmet Burger Kitchen and a pukka bottle of Pauillac (Chateau Pontet-Canet 2001). I order their classic, served with salad and relish and a bowl of chunky fries. Apart from struggling to get it into my mouth without covering myself with creamy goo it’s hard to fault the classic meat and potatoes match. Red wine, grilled rare beef, salty potatoes - what’s not to like? The Pontet-Canet even stood up to the raw onion and relish though the match would probably have been marginally better without it and brought some refreshing acidity to the partnership which counteracted the carb overload
What to hold/go easy on
The raw onions and relish. And skip the ketchup
What else to try: A top-notch Californian cab, a Super-Chilean

See some other posh (and not-so-posh) pairings for a burger

Champagne and Sushi *****
Why it worked
The sugar in the sushi rice keyed in perfectly with the dosage in the extravagant Jacquart Katarina we paired with it, the bubbles counteracting the oiliness of the raw salmon. The match also held up when I dunked my sushi in soy (umami at work) and, surprisingly, even when I added a modest amount of wasabi and nibbled some pickled ginger. The seaweed in the maki sushi also tied in well. Is there a nicer way to eat sushi?
What to hold/go easy on
Don’t overdo the wasabi
What else to try: Muscadet

See other good wine matches for sushi

Fish, chips and white Graves ****
Why it worked
I was surprised, I confess, how successful this match with a 2004 Clos Floridene blanc from Denis Dubourdieu was. I would have thought pure unoaked sauvignon would have been better (on a similar basis to adding a squeeze of lemon) but this seductively lush white added a fabulous note of luxury to what were admittedly not the crispest most sizzlingly fresh fish and chips I’ve ever eaten. A bit like partnering them with some really good home-made mayonnaise. White graves is an underrated wine
What to hold/go easy on:
Added lemon juice. Brown sauce. Ketchup
What else to try: Sancerre, Pouilly Fume and other top sauvignon blancs. Champagne - though the Katarina was a bit sweet. Champagne almost always goes well with crispy, deep-fried seafood including fish fingers (see above).

See other great matches for fish and chips

Rotisserie chicken and Chardonnay *****

Why it worked
No news to Decanter readers, I’m sure, but just to draw attention to the fact that even a humble rotisserie chicken can be turned into a feast by partnering it with a top class chardonnay like the big lush creamy Voyager Estate 2002 I tried. Don’t even think of removing the skin. That’s what makes the match.
What to hold/go easy on:
Accompanying veg and salad particularly if dressed with a vinaigrette. Just a few roast or fried potatoes will do.
What else to try: White hermitage. Good pinot noir

See other good matches for roast chicken

Crispy duck and Pinot Noir *****
Why it worked
Another timeless classic but how often do you order crispy duck on its own? Or drink it with a wine as good as the silkily sweet 2003 Au Bon Climat Pinot Noir? A crispy duck and pinot noir party. What a great way to entertain!
What to hold/go easy on
Don’t overdo the hoisin sauce. Or order everything else on the menu to eat with it especially dishes with black bean sauce
What else to try: Cheaper pinots from Chile. A fruity Italian red like a Dolcetto. Mid-weight merlots should work too.

See other pairings for duck, crispy or otherwise

Pizza and Chianti ***
Why it worked
I’ve had better matches for Chianti Classico admittedly but a bottle of Villa Caffagio 2004 doesn’t half improve a supermarket pizza. The acidity in chianti is always great for tackling cooked cheese. Even at its superior best it has a quaffable quality that makes it a relaxing sip.
What to hold/go easy on:
Too many topping ingredients (very un-Italian). Avoid curried meat pizzas - as I hope you do anyway
What else to try: Most other Tuscan reds, new world sangioveses, Languedoc reds like Faugères

See other wine - and beer - pairings for pizza

Curry and Rioja Reserva **
Why it (just) works
I’ve partnered rioja successfully with curry before, most notably rogan josh and the smooth plummy Ondarre Rioja Reserva 2001 just about held its own with a moderately spicy selection of South Indian dishes including a prawn curry, a chicken Chettinad and a potato curry. The key to making it kick in was taking a spoonful of raita with each mouthful which calmed the heat and upped the acidity of the match.
What to hold/go easy on:
The overall heat level. Really hot curries do wine of any kind few favours
What else to try: To be honest a substantial new world red would have been better: with a few years bottle age to tame the tannins. Maybe a Grange 1990? (Only joking)

My top 5 wine picks with curry

Top photo by Meelan Bawjee at Unsplash.com 

 

3 inspirational Indian food books

The British love affair with Indian food is longstanding but these three very personal books take our knowledge to another level. Ishita DasGupta takes a look at them.

March and April see the release of three books that give an interesting insight into Indian regional cookery. Ammu by Asma Khan is a tender memoir that contains a collection of recipes that range from the Bengali home kitchen to Mughlai showstoppers; On the Himalayan Trail by Romy Gill is a breathtaking journey through the Kashmir Valley and foothills of the Himalayas shining a light on a region whose food may be lesser known but has had huge influence upon India’s cuisine and culture, whilst The Philosophy of Curry by Sejal Sukhadwala is a whip-snap overview of the history of curry and its influence across the globe. Three very distinctive books, each offering a different facet to the subject of Indian food and culture.

Ammu: Indian Home-Cooking to Nourish Your Soul -Asma Khan. Ebury Publishing, 288pp., £26, March, 9781529148145

Ammu is the latest cookbook by the chef, author, and owner of Darjeeling Express, Asma Khan. Meaning mother, Ammu is a paean to Khan’s own mother, Faizana -the inspiration for her life and work. To simply call this book a cookbook, fails to describe fully what it really is about. Using the language of food, woven within these chapters is the story of two women and their journeys, through childhood, marriage, motherhood, and entrepreneurship.

This collection of recipes draws upon Khan’s Rajput and Bengali background with a mixture of everyday staples and dishes for celebrations and feasting. Quintessentially Bengali dishes such as bhortas -mashed or minced vegetables, fish, and meat, spiked with raw onion, green chilli, and mustard oil, and chorchoris -lightly spiced vegetables cooked in oil with no gravy, sit alongside Afghan chapli kabab, and Mughlai dishes such as korma, kofte, firni and of course, biryani.

Biryani is a specialty for both Khan and her Covent Garden based restaurant, where her Biryani Supper Clubs are much sought after events. The dish is cooked traditionally in a big pot or degh, sealed with dough and steamed dum style. Brought out with much fanfare and a great sense of occasion, the degh is opened in front of diners before the layers are gently mixed and served. For those wishing to recreate this biryani at home, a recipe for Ammu’s chicken biryani, scaled down to feed six, with step-by-step instructions is in the book.

In fact, there is something to satisfy everyone’s appetite and Khan’s recipe collection really showcases the many communities and cultures that have influenced Bengali food. It is a joy to dip in and out of its pages and to see dishes such as Malaikari, Calcutta Haka Chilli Chicken, and Zaffrani Raan make an appearance. In Khan’s own words: ‘This is food I cook for my family every day, meals to comfort, restore and nourish. I give these recipes to you, with love.’

On The Himalayan Trail: Recipes and Stories from Kashmir to Ladakh - Romy Gill. Hardie Grant, 256pp., £27, April, 9781784884406

On the Himalayan Trail by chef, food writer, author and broadcaster, Romy Gill, is a sumptuous book that is part travelogue and part culinary exploration. Beginning in Kashmir, an area largely untouched by foreign and domestic tourism due its political situation, Gill gives us a glimpse into the region’s rich food culture and jaw-dropping landscape.

Kashmiri cuisine draws its heritage from the Pandit and Muslim communities with influences from Persia, Central Asia, and Afghanistan. Certain aromatic spices play a central role in many dishes, as well as ingredients local to the area such as dried Cockscomb flower, saffron and Kashmiri red chillies. In summer, the fertile land offers fresh greens and vegetables, but winters can be harsh, and scarcity of food means that families busy themselves during September and October drying vegetables and preserving fruits.

At the outset, Gill tells us about the many people who shared recipes and food with her, from her driver and guide to professional chefs and home cooks. She takes us to meet food producers and cultivators, café, and restaurant owners and also Waza - chefs who create the famed wazwan, or Kashmiri celebration feasts, which can comprise of up to thirty-six courses. Through them we learn not only about food, but the history and culture of the valley.

From here, a journey to the high-altitude desert of Ladakh where Gill explores its biggest township, Leh. There is a marked change in the food here, heavily influenced by Tibetan cuisine. Thukpa, a noodle soup, and whole wheat pastas such as Skyu and Chutagi are served in vegetable laden broths. Momos, steamed buns, fermented wheat breads and Gur Gur Cha -salted butter tea are iterations of foods that connect communities that live amongst the foothills of the Himalayas.

The book has a lovely range of recipes from quick, everyday meals, pickles, and preserves, to dishes for an unrushed weekend or celebration. Nearly all the spices are readily available here, and Gill has adjusted recipes to suit the UK home kitchen. For those who love food and travel, this gem of a book is a must.

Try this recipe for Romy's lamb harissa

The Philosophy of Curry - Sejal Sukhadwala. British Library, 106 pp., £10, March, 978012354509

The Philosophy of Curry by London based food writer, Sejal Sukhadwala, is part of a series of books published by the British Library, with a focus on food and drink. In this volume, Sukhadwala attempts to give a definition for the somewhat contentious term curry, tracing its origins, its arrival in Britain and influence across the globe.

Associated with the British, the word curry is thought to be a modification of caril, used by the Portuguese in Goa during the 16^th century. This in turn is thought to be an adaptation of kari, used variously to describe black pepper, spices, or a spiced accompaniment to rice, in Tamil. From here Sukhadwala tries to determine what curry is, exploring the long history of the dish and also the valid objections which surround it.

There are some interesting chapters such as the one devoted to curry powder. The earliest recorded being sold by a perfumery warehouse in Piccadilly in 1784. Powders were thought best to ensure consistency of taste, in comparison to grinding one’s own spices. The flavour profiles vaguely based on regional dishes from Madras, Bengal and Bombay.

The spread of curry around the globe is also a fascinating story. Led mainly by Indian indentured labourers, who were shipped across the British Empire to work in various plantations following the abolition of slavery. Modifying their recipes to use local ingredients, many Indian influenced dishes, now absorbed into each country’s food identity were born.

It is impossible to go into too much detail on such a vast subject across a hundred pages, but Sukhadwala does a great job, whetting the appetite and giving a list for those interested in further reading. The writing here is accessible and engaging, and Sukhadwala is not at all precious about her subject. I devoured this book in one evening and hope that Sukhadwala plans to write more on the subject.

Ishita DasGupta is based in Bristol. She is a home cook who writes about food and culture, migration and identity.

How Greeks celebrate Easter: the feasting after the fast

No-one who hasn’t experienced a Greek Easter can imagine the scale of the feasting. Wine writer Ted Lelekas tells all about "the most lavish and important meal of the year".

Ted writes: "It may come as a surprise to some, but in Greece, Easter is much more important than Christmas, when it comes to food and drink. This is mostly because the period running up to Easter and up to Easter Sunday itself is full of local and religious traditions and customs, which, invariably, stem from or lead to food.

The main reason why Easter Sunday lunch is so greatly anticipated and celebrated is that it comes as the culmination of a long – and not always easy – period of fasting that can last 7 or 40 days. This is a very old tradition of the Greek Orthodox church that aims to lead people to share the burden of the trials of Christ that lead to his crucifixion, and to cleanse their bodies and souls in time for his resurrection.

Modern Greek society is, of course, far more secular, even agnostic, than in the past. However, the majority of people are still happy to follow the culinary customs of Easter as they are dictated by religious tradition, while many even choose to fast regardless of religious beliefs, seeing it as a good way to de-tox before the Easter feast!

Easter fasting means mainly excluding meat and dairy products from one’s everyday diet for the 40 days of Lent, leading to Easter. During the last 7 days, the Holy Week, the regime becomes even more strict, as it also excludes fish, seafood and even olive oil.

Everything starts to return back to normal after midnight on Holy Saturday, when the church bells toll joyfully and Christ’s resurrection is announced in each neighbourhood, amidst chants and fireworks. A few hours later, on Easter Sunday, the whole family , as well as friends, neighbours, sometimes even strangers who have nowhere to go, gather around the table to enjoy what is possibly the most lavish and important meal of the year.

As one would expect, culinary customs at Easter vary amongst various regions in Greece. Understandably, in the islands or in certain seaside areas, fish and seafood play a key role at the Easter table. In general, however, Easter fare in Greece revolves around meat, and mainly lamb so I will concentrate on Easter eating and drinking as it’s done in most of the mainland.

At midnight on Holy Saturday, once Christ’s resurrection has been officially declared, the cook of the household (traditionally the mother) will rush home from church first, to start the preparations for the Resurrection dinner. This is not exactly a full and heavy meal, but it is very cleverly conceived, in order to line the family members’ stomachs, a few hours before the huge carnivorous feast that is the Easter lunch.

The resurrection table will feature lettuce salad, feta cheese and hard-boiled eggs whose shells are painted red, symbolizing the blood that Christ spilled as he sacrificed himself for humanity. People around the table will choose their own egg, that they will crack against the egg of the person sitting next to them, in order to symbolize the release of life. The person whose egg survives the night intact is the lucky one of the night, and will keep it to use in the same way the following day.

The centerpiece on the Resurrection table is the traditional soup, “Magiritsa”. This is a hot, hearty soup that contains chopped pieces of lamb’s liver, intestines and sweetbreads, scented with essential Mediterranean herbs and greens like endives, spring onion and dill, on a base of egg and lemon juice. The delicious Magiritsa will deliver a first, “gentle shock” to the system of the person who just finished fasting, and will prepare them for Easter lunch which will follow in a few hours.

There can be two main wine pairing suggestions for Resurrection dinner: a cool white wine made from the Moschofilero grape (PDO Mantinia, in the Peloponnese), with crisp acidity that will cut through the soup’s richness and delicate green – even floral – aromas to match the fresh herbs in the soup and the salad; alternatively a fresh, ideally unoaked, red from the Agiorgitiko grape (PDO Nemea, in the Peloponnese), with a fruity character and young yet velvety tannins, to match the first red meat to make an appearance at the table for quite a few days.

The “star of the show” at the Easter Sunday table is one of the most traditional dishes in Greek cuisine: “ovelias”, a whole lamb, slow-roasted on a spit, over an open coal fire. A great deal of effort goes in its preparation, to ensure that it is properly seasoned and fixed onto the spit, as well as in the actual roasting.

On the morning of Easter Sunday, the person tasked with manning the spit-roast station wakes up very early to start the fire and prepare the lamb. Even though the fire can be in the form of a hole in the ground or through a sophisticated barbecue grill with an electrically-powered spit, roasting will take several hours, to ensure that the main dish will be ready at lunchtime for everyone to enjoy.

Roasters have an enviable set of privileges. They get to nibble on all kinds of special treats (“mezedes”) such as cheese, traditional bits of charcuterie, pieces of hard-boiled Easter red eggs seasoned with olive oil, and various dips with bread, while at various points in time they will be enjoying pieces of lamb skin cracklings and other pieces of the roast lamb, pretending to check its state of readiness!

Throughout that time, they will be downing endless glasses of ouzo (traditional Greek anise-flavoured distillate), diluted with cold water over ice, chilled tsipouro (the Greek version of grappa), or cold retsina (traditional Greek white wine flavoured with pine tree resin).

Alongside the lamb, delicacies which will also be spit-roasted over the coal fire include “kontosouvli”, pieces of pork tenderloin, and “kokoretsi”, a salami-shaped delicacy made of the lamb’s liver and wrapped with its intestines.

Other dishes which will eventually make their way to the Easter table include feta cheese, various salads, red Easter eggs, dips such as “tzatziki” (yoghurt with garlic, shredded cucumber and herbs) and “tirokafteri” (spicy white cheese spread), spicy sausages, roast potatoes and a traditional baked cheese pie, made of feta cheese wrapped in filo pastry.

Desserts will include fresh seasonal fruit, and “galaktomboureko” (traditional dessert made of sweet custard-like cream wrapped in filo pastry and covered in syrup).

The wines drunk at the table will range from fresh, fruity rosés, to match with the fresh seasonal flavours, served chilled to go with the traditionally warm weather enjoyed at Easter time, to full-bodied reds based on Xinomavro, a grape native to Northern Greece (PDO Naoussa or Amyntaion), characterized by aromas of dark fruit, sundried tomato and black olive, producing tannic wines that can hold their ground when served with the lamb and all the other carnivorous delights.

A good modern-style Retsina is also a usual suspect at the Easter table, as it has the magic ability to match the wide range of flavours on offer. Desserts will be served with popular sweet wines such as the Muscat-based “stickies” from the islands of Samos or Limnos (both PDO) or the famous Vinsanto, based on the while grape of Assyrtiko (PDO Santorini).

Easter lunch in Greece is a veritable feast, eagerly anticipated by everyone for months. Coming as the climax of a period of fasting and religious devoutness (for some), it is a happy occasion that brings the whole family, relatives, friends, neighbours, even strangers around the same table, to celebrate and rejoice.

As a matter of fact, tradition dictates that no one rushes to leave the table; even after the food is finished, everyone will still be there chatting and making the most of the opportunity to enjoy each other’s company. Anyone who has the option to spend Easter in Greece, is strongly encouraged to do so. They’re in for a culinary treat they will never forget!

Ted Lelekas is an Athens-based wine writer and educator with his own blog (in Greek) www.telegourmet.org. He asked that payment for this piece should be given to the charity Kids Company.

This article is dedicated to the memory of Albert Arouh, esteemed Greek restaurant critic and author, who passed away on Saturday 12 April 2014.

This article was first published in April 2015. Top image of traditional Greek bread by rawf8 at shutterstock.com

Here's to Clean Monday!

The start of Lent is cause for gloom for many people faced with the prospect of giving up something pleasurable like wine or chocolate Not for the Greeks however who kick off their fasting with a splendid celebration called Kathara Defter or ‘Clean Monday’.

According to Greek friends and contacts it involves a slap-up lunch - usually out of doors - and the flying of kites - the day is a national holiday. “Clean Monday is a time for friends and family to get together, especially out of Athens if possible” says my friend Marianna Cosmetatos of Gentilini Wines in Cephalonia. “Kids fly kites that they make themselves and then the big lunch follows (it is always lunch).”

But it is the food that is particularly fascinating. As part of the cleansing process that accompanies lent nothing that contains or is derived from an animal that contains blood can be served - so no meat, fish, dairy or eggs - and that includes sweets and pastries with eggs in them. But shellfish, octopus and squid are fine and there are many special vegetable dishes which are served during lent. There is also a special unleavened bread called lagana which is baked only for Clean Monday.

Typical dishes that would be served today are taramasalata, melitzanosalata (aubergine or eggplant purée). fried squid, marinated grilled octopus, lobster, gigantes beans (large butter beans) cooked with tomatoes. black eye peas mixed with fresh onion and parsley and boiled greens. “There are also vegetables like cornichons, roasted red peppers, hot green peppers, pickled cauliflower and carrots" adds Mary Irene Triantafillou of Emery Wines of Rhodes.

"For dessert, people traditionally eat halva, which is made from tahini." Marianna told me. "The best is thought to come from Macedonia. The texture is similar to Spanish turron, but less greasy. It sometimes has nuts or cocoa in it, and can be coated in dark chocolate. Homemade halva can also be served, but this is a different sweet, made from semolina. Other desserts can be made from fruit, nuts, plain chocolate or jelly. Pastry can also be used as long as it is not made with butter."

I wondered if this feast must all be washed down with water but apparently not - far from it. "Wine is freely consumed and in vast quantities!" says Nikos Panidis, the sommelier at one of Athens' top restaurants Milos. "Retsina would be the traditional wine to drink but nowadays many Greeks would drink modern Greek whites such as Assyrtiko, Roditis or the more floral Moschofilero. A Fume Blanc, Pinot Gris or a European Chardonnay are also good alternative." Ouzo and tsipouro (the Greek version of grappa) are also served. (The meal is generally followed by a nap or a walk!)

"I remember discussing with my Uncle Theordore how ironic it is that all these amazing dishes - some of the best fare in Greek cooking - were born out of a need to be abstemious." writes Theodore Kyriakou in The Real Greek at Home, which includes some nice recipes for lent. “If this is ‘spiritual and physical cleansing’ we should all do more of it."

If you’re interested in knowing more about these fascinating traditions Mary also recommends "The Festive Fast" by Marigoula Kokkinou and Georgia Kofinas, "an excellent source of information on how Greeks are supposed to fast and the foods and recipes for the Lenten period."

And if you’d like to try your hand at an authentic recipe here is one from Marianna’s mother-in law Irini, who, she tells me, is a very good cook. “It’s time-consuming and somewhat fiddly, until you get the hang of wrapping, but well worth it.”

Irini’s Lahanodolmades (cabbage rolls)

Makes 35-40 dolmades

1 large white cabbage
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, grated
5-6 spring onions, finely chopped
1 carrot, grated
1 bunch parsley, chopped,
1 little dill, chopped
2 cups short grain rice
2 lemons
Olive oil, salt and pepper

With a sharp knife remove the base and heart of the cabbage, creating a cone shaped hole on the underside. Place in a large pan, hole up and add cold water to come about half way up the cabbage (without floating). Put on the stove over med-high heat. As the water approaches a simmer, the leaves will start coming away easily. Remove them one by one with your fingers as they come away and place carefully on a tray or baking sheet. They should be soft but not soggy. Remove the hard base of the larger leaves and cut in half. If very large, they can be cut in three.

Place some of the leftover inner leaves that are too small and trimmings in a large pan (you can use the same one you boiled the cabbage in) to cover the base. This will prevent the parcels from sticking, and give a better result (they are also delicious for the cook to eat at the end!).

Mix all the ingredients from the garlic to the rice together. Season with salt and pepper. Place a teaspoon of filling in the middle of a cabbage leaf. Fold over the bottom, then the sides and roll into a parcel. Pack the parcels tightly in the pan, on top of the bits of cabbage. If you have any leftover bits of cabbage, use them to divide the layers. Pour over 2 cups of water, drizzle over some olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place a large, flat plate on the parcels, cover the pan and cook over medium heat for 20-25 mins until the rice is cooked-sacrifice one parcel to make sure (you deserve it anyway!), then add water and cook a little longer if necessary.

Remove the plate and pour over the juice of 2-3 lemons. Remove parcels carefully to a plate. These can be eaten warm, but are just as delicious at room temperature.

Variations: You can add some cooked baby shrimp to the mix if you wish, but this is not traditional.