The best wine and beer pairings for pizza (updated)

Should you drink wine or beer with pizza? No rights or wrongs, obviously but here are a few thoughts which might encourage you to experiment.

The best food pairings for Chianti Classico and other Tuscan sangiovese (updated)

There’s a lot of talk about how the wines of a region tend to match its food but that seems truer of Tuscany than almost anywhere else.

Which foods pair best with Merlot?

Merlot has one of the widest ranges of styles of any red wine from the light, quaffable merlots of the Veneto to the grandest of Bordeaux.

The best food pairings for Zinfandel

Like most wines made from red grapes Zinfandel comes in a number of styles from light and juicy to blockbuster ‘killer’ zins but they have a common thread of ripe brambly fruit and in most cases a richness that makes them a good match for red meat and other hearty dishes, especially those with a hit of smoked chilli.

What wine to pair with canapés and other party food

You might think wine pairing is a strange subject for a post on canapés as they are by their very nature varied and no-one - even a 3 Michelin-starred restaurant - pairs a different wine with each one.

Pizza 'claminara'

Shellfish topped pizzas or pizzette have been right on trend recently and here's a great version from Mitch Tonks fab new cookbook Rockfish (which has a whole load of other recipes I want to cook).

Black truffle and fontina pizza and Puligny Montrachet

It’s easy to get into a mindset with food and wine pairing where you automatically revert to a tried and tested combination. Like pizza with Peroni or a Sicilian red

Win an Ooni Fyra 12 pizza oven

I’ve been having major home-made pizza envy since I spotted a couple of pals producing madly professional pizzas on their dinky Ooni pizza ovens and although I can’t win one this month for obvious reasons you CAN. THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED.

Pet nat and pizza

I’ve been on a road trip visiting wineries in Kent for the last few days but the highlight from a food and wine pairing point of view was the pizza and pet nat combo we had at Westwell, a ‘low intervention’ (aka natural) wine producer just southwest of Canterbury.

Alta Langa spumante and pizza

Last week I was in Piemonte exploring the world of vermouth with Roberto Bava of Cocchi. I discovered many startlingly good pairings about which more about in due course but the one I was most intrigued by was their Alta Langa sparkling wine with pizza, not a combination I would have expected at all.

Seafood pizza and Craven The Firs Syrah

A full-flavoured red and seafood? Doesn’t sound like the kind of pairing that would work but as ever it depends on the wine and how the dish is prepared.

Pizza and Franciacorta

Expensive Franciacorta might not be the first wine you’d think of drinking with a pizza but bear with, as they say … And not just because it’s Italian.

Pizza and Valpolicella

With time stretching like an aching chasm from one end of the week to another I've no idea how it’s possible to miss out my regular match of the week post but there you go. (Last week’s should have been chilli con carne and Robert Oatley Shiraz which I can heartily recommend)

Seafood pizza and medium-dry cider

The cider revival continues to gather momentum - and this time it’s with food. Of course cider has always been popular in summer but this year there seem to be many more well-made 'craft' ciders around - not just the latest raft of fruit flavoured fizzy drinks.

Where to eat in Bristol in 2014

Many of these recommendations are now out of date. There is a more recent post of where I recommend to eat in Bristol here.

Pizza by any other name

What to eat on a Sunday night when you've been out for the day and everyone suddenly wants supper? Rosie Sykes addresses just this issue in her delightful Sunday Night Book which was published in 2017.

Pizza and chilled red wine

We’re in Arles this week for our annual visit to the Rencontres Arles, the fabulous photography festival that takes over the entire town. Since we’re with our youngest son, culinary exploration has to alternate with visits to his favourite pizza and sandwich joints which is how we ended up last night at a basic but brilliant pizzeria in the Trinquetaille on the other side of the Rhône.

Where - and what - Bristol chefs eat

As there was so much interest in the post on where my fellow food writers eat out in Bristol I thought I'd do a follow-up with chefs.

Baked polenta with feta, béchamel and za’atar tomatoes

Ring the changes with this brilliant homemade alternative to a takeaway pizza from Ottolenghi and Noor Murad's book Ottolenghi Test Kitchen, Extra Good Things

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. 

Radici - Islington's spicy Italian

It’s already a bone of contention between me and my Islington-based friend T that she has an unfairly large number of good restaurants on her doorstep.

My top 20 drink pairings of 2013

So what stood out in the way of food and wine matches - and pairings with other drinks - in 2013?

Where Bristol foodies eat

Bristol has more than its fair share of cookery writers (including yours truly) so who better to ask where to eat in the city - and what to order? (Well, local chefs, maybe, but I’ll come on to that …)

Food pairings for wheat beer I: witbiers (bières blanches) and lighter wheat beers

Wheat beers are fabulously flexible when it comes to food matching - the beer world’s equivalent of a crisp white wine.

The best food pairings for Mencia

When I scoured the website for existing pairings with mencia I was amazed how many dishes I’d suggested it with. It really is an incredibly versatile food wine.

The best food pairings for Lambrusco (updated)

If you’re wondering why I’m devoting a post to Lambrusco you obviously haven’t tasted the real thing!

Paris tips and trends

Last post (for the moment) from Paris! A quick run-down of the most interesting food and wine ideas I picked up for those of you who haven’t time to read the full reviews:Sardines - cheap, sustainable - this summer’s must-eat fish, it seems. Grilled (Le Temps au Temps), served with red peppers and black-eye beans (La Gazzetta) served whole in a tin with seaweed butter (Cristal de Sel)

River Cottage Canteen, Bristol: a good place for families

I've never managed to get to one of Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's River Cottage Canteens so was intrigued to find one was opening on our doorstep on Bristol's Whiteladies Road

The best food pairings with Saint-Emilion

Saint-Emilion is a familiar name on a wine list but what sort of food goes with it best? Sommelier Nathalie Gardiner suggests her favourite pairings.

Pairing wine and artichokes (updated)

Artichokes are frequently described as a “wine-killer,” but is that reputation deserved? While it’s true that artichokes can make dry white wines taste unexpectedly sweet, the problem is somewhat exaggerated.

My best wine (and other) pairings of 2017

Those of you who visit the site regularly will be aware I post a regular match of the week - the most interesting wine - or other drink - pairing I’ve come across in the past 7 days.

What food to pair with alcohol-free cocktails

Advertising feature: If you or members of your family or friends don’t drink how does that affect the kind of food you serve at holiday get-togethers and parties? The answer, happily, is not at all if you opt for high quality alcohol-free spirits.

Win 2 fantastic fish boxes from Mitch Tonks’ Rockfish

It’s always a bit of a dilemma what to put in our December competition. We can’t make it too Christmassy cos the winner won’t get their prize until after the festivities so we have to think to ourselves ‘what would I like in January?’ And the answer is something that’s healthy after all that excess but which still feels like a treat. THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED

The best food pairings for Pinotage

Like any other red South Africa's Pinotage comes in different styles - some lighter and fruitier than others. When you're matching it with food you take a cue from the sort of ingredients and dishes that go with its two ancestors - Pinot Noir and Cinsault.

Soft shell crab tempura maki and ‘Misty Mountain’ sake

I don’t that often order sake in a restaurant but when I do I wonder why I don’t drink it more often.

Wine of the week: Rafala Tinto Tempranillo

It may be so-called flaming June but the weather is anything but summery this weekend so I’m abandoning rosé for the time being and thinking about red.

Wine of the week: Cramele Recas ‘Sole’ Shiraz/Feteasca Neagra 2015

Romanian wines may not be on your radar but judging by this incredibly delicious red you should look out for them.

Terrenal Garnacha

Marks & Spencer might not be the first place you think of looking for a wine bargain but their Terrenal garnacha from the Cariñena region of Spain is an absolute steal.

The fantastic world of Heston Blumenthal

Magdalen Chapter, Exeter: a night in the operating room

So many institutions are being converted into hotels these days that one should feel no great surprise at staying at a former eye hospital. But I must confess to feeling a shade queasy at spending a night in the operating room* at the Magdalen Chapter in Exeter - particularly when I spotted the drain in the floor down which many unspeakable fluids must have been sluiced . . .

Four great restaurant finds in Paris

Even if you’re the most enthusiastic gourmet you can’t eat in 3 star restaurants all the time. And for most of us the prices of Paris’s top restaurants simply put them out of reach. Here are four very varied alternatives, discovered by my husband, an assiduous researcher into places that are off the beaten track, which we ate in with great pleasure last week

An insider's guide to the fish restaurants of Marseille and Cassis

Travel writer Philip Sweeney hobnobs with the locals, checks out the best places to eat and discovers why fishing for bouillabaisse isn't as easy as it once was . . .

Sea Containers at Mondrian: much more fun than it sounds

I may have been handicapped by knowing the building previously as an office block but even the name Sea Containers at Mondrian has a corporate ring that makes the heart sink.

Pastaiao and the new pasta craze

If you want to open a new restaurant serve pasta. That seems to be the formula for success these days.

Cell, Berlin

The entrance to Cell looks like something from The Man from U.N.C.L.E, which is funny really as Berlin’s latest hot restaurant opening was conceived by a Russian chef, Evgeny Vikentev. The inspiration, we find out moments later, is not the Cold War, but the Bauhaus.

Simit with lemon and thyme-baked feta

If you've ever toyed with the idea of buying a wood-fired oven Genevieve Taylor's new book The Ultimate Wood Fired Oven Cookbook should persuade you. (And it didn't even cost a fortune. She built it herself!)

Momofuku's 'Volcanoes'

At a time when everyone seems to be looking for meals they can make from 3 ingredients in under 15 minutes Christina Tosi's Volcanoes recipe from Momofuku Milk Bar will strike you as insanely long. It involves 3 separate recipes before you even begin to embark on the Volcanoes themselves. So why am I suggesting you should attempt it?

What wine (or other drinks) should you pair with herbs?

Do herbs ever have a strong enough influence on a dish to determine your wine pairing? Relatively rarely in my view. Only very herby sauces like pesto or salsa verde dominate a dish to such an extent that you need to choose a wine to accommodate them.

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.)

Spicy tuna pasta and Tuscan red

Some of the best meals - and the best wine pairings - come about without a great deal of forethought. Like the pasta I threw together last week in France from storecupboard ingredients then accompanied with a cracking bottle of inexpensive Tuscan red we’d just bought from a winemaker at a natural wine fair. Yes, Italian wine. In France! Who’d have thought it?

“A few glasses of wine and lots of rubbish food”

What to recommend as my match of the week in this astonishing week for British sport, and especially athletics? Well, what else but Jessica Ennis' post-event treat of “a few glasses of wine and lots of rubbish food”!

What food to pair with Ribera del Duero

Advertising feature: As one of Spain’s most highly regarded red wines you want to pair Ribera del Duero with food that will fully show it off but as it comes at a number of different price points and styles what type of ingredients and dishes work best?

Win a Big Green Egg Minimax worth £680!

If you’re into barbecuing you may already have heard of the Big Green Egg, a brilliant multi-purpose outdoor cooker and barbecue which is regarded as one of the best in the business. THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED.

The best of the new Blind Spot wines from The Wine Society

The Wine Society has had a range of exclusive Australian wines called Blind Spot which are made for them by winemaker Mac Forbes for a while.

My best buys from Waitrose’s current promotion

I’ve always held that across the board discounts are the best kind of special offer, throwing up some real bargain buys along with the opportunity to get more expensive bottles at a price you can afford.

Leopard’s Leap Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot 2017

Tomorrow the annual Fairtrade Fortnight starts in the UK. I wish I could get more enthusiastic about Fairtrade wine but so many of them are underwhelming. Happily this wine which is made in South Africa is an exception: not mindblowing - you wouldn’t expect that for £5 - but a more than decent bottle for the price.

From the cellar: Domaine d’Aupilhac Montpeyroux 1992, Coteaux du Languedoc

One of the pleasures of being at our house in the Languedoc is diving into the cellar and fishing out old, overlooked bottles.

4 good red wine buys from Lidl

Lidl’s limited edition releases which come out every couple of months are always worth looking out for - and considerably more interesting than their basic range. Here are four that caught my eye at their recent tasting and which have just gone on sale.

10 good wine buys from the current Sainsbury’s offer

In anticipation of a England World Cup win that sadly didn’t happen Sainsbury’s is running a 25% off six bottles deal this weekend (with some exclusions* including sherry which I normally hoover up when they have one of these promotions). But there are plenty of other good deals

Wine of the Week: Gloria Douro Reserva

One of the best sources of good value reds right now is Portugal and if you like full-bodied styles the Douro is the region to look out for. This 2017 Glorio Douro is almost porty which should come as no surprise as it’s made from three of the grapes - tinta roriz, touriga nacional and touriga franca - that are used to make port.

My top 20 books to give your friends for Christmas 2017

You might think the last thing you need is another list of this year’s cookery books. but indulge me in this slightly different take - who would you give them to and why would you find them useful.

Kitchen - Recipes from the Heart of the Home: Nigella's latest tips the scales at 1890g

The latest orthodoxy about bookselling in these straitened times must be that a book has to be big to sell well. Hence the 492 pages devoted to Nigella’s latest opus Kitchen which weighs in at 1890g or 4lb 2 oz. (Out of curiosity I checked).

Why Valentine’s Day can be more romantic in lockdown

I’ve never understood why people want to go out for dinner on Valentine’s Day. Why would you fancy sitting in a restaurant with dozens of other people, paying over the odds for an often indifferent meal and a glass of overpriced champagne? The only argument in favour is that you don’t have to make it yourself.

5 of the world’s sexiest cheeses

Cheese is possibly not the first ingredient that comes to mind in terms of a Valentine’s Night celebration but think again and you realise there's no shortage of suitable candidates.

Ryn and Cordie - in search of the perfect partner (the food & wine matching formula)

Leafing through Ryn and Cordie’s new book I realised how untypical it was. You get the impression most wine books - even ones about food and wine matching - are written for middle-aged men. The few for women tend to be of the fluffy Chicklit variety with cartoons indicating that wine isn’t really a subject they need overly bother their pretty heads with.

Friends of Ham and where else to drink good beer in Leeds

One of the bonuses of judging the BBC Food and Farming awards was a night in Leeds and the chance to take in the brilliantly named beer & charcuterie bar Friends of Ham which I’d been dying to visit since Jay Rayner reviewed it last year.