Pairings | German

The best food pairings for dry (or off-dry) riesling

The best food pairings for dry (or off-dry) riesling

It’s sometimes hard to predict what type of food will pair well with riesling because they’re all so different - some being bone dry, some ultra sweet, some positively floral, others zingy and citrussy.

What food to pair with coffee

What food to pair with coffee

For many people coffee is a regular companion to food whether it’s breakfast or that great German institution of kaffee und kuchen (coffee and cake) - only the amount of caffeine they might consume holding them back.

Win a case of gorgeous German riesling and 6 Riedel riesling glasses

Win a case of gorgeous German riesling and 6 Riedel riesling glasses

It’s summer, it’s hot so what could be better than a refreshing bottle of German riesling and some beautiful glasses to drink it in? Well we have both for you thanks to Wines of Germany and top glass producer Riedel. THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED

Win a case of fine German wine from The WineBarn

Win a case of fine German wine from The WineBarn

If you’re not already a fan of German wines this fascinating case of modern German wines should convert you. It comes from German specialist The WineBarn which has picked up many awards for its range. THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED

German spätlese riesling and rare venison

German spätlese riesling and rare venison

One of the most interesting things I noticed on my trip to Germany last week was how Germans drink riesling with red meat. I wouldn’t have thought it would work but was utterly convinced by this pairing of super-tender rare venison with an exotic spätlese (late picked) riesling.

Fruit and flower tart with German auslese riesling

Fruit and flower tart with German auslese riesling

I've struggled to come up with a single pairing from last week as all the matches I was offered at the two-Michelin-starred The Ledbury were spot on but this, I think, is the most spectacular.

Dry German riesling and cured salmon

Dry German riesling and cured salmon

Cured - or marinated - salmon is something you’ll find on a lot of menus these days but what’s the best wine to drink with it?

Courgette, seed and curry leaf cake and dry German riesling

Courgette, seed and curry leaf cake and dry German riesling

The more I taste authentic Indian food the less I think it causes problems for wine. A group of us cooked up a whole load of recipes on Saturday night including this savoury cake called handvo from Anjum Anand’s I love India.

Why Mosel riesling matches Vietnamese food

Why Mosel riesling matches Vietnamese food

Our roving gastronaut Lucy Bridgers discovers why German Mosel riesling is the ideal wine pairing for Vietnamese food

Thai food and off-dry German riesling

Thai food and off-dry German riesling

This is not the first time, I know, that I’ve suggested Thai food with riesling but it was such a standout pairing at Kolae last week I felt I should remind you of it.

Rheinhessen silvaner and penne with tomatoes and peppers

Rheinhessen silvaner and penne with tomatoes and peppers

I must confess I’ve never associated German wines with pasta dishes especially ones based on summer vegetables like tomatoes and peppers but then I haven’t come across many genuinely dry German wines in Italian restaurants before.

Wine of the week: Black Star 2016

Wine of the week: Black Star 2016

This is the second of two really good German reds I’ve come across this summer*. It may surprise you that Germany makes red wine at all but it now makes up a significant amount of what the country produces

Spicy spam and Mosel riesling

Spicy spam and Mosel riesling

I can’t say spam is high up on my list of things to eat let alone pair with wine but in New York last week I discovered a brilliant match for it at a quirky Hawaiian Lower East Side restaurant called Noreetuh

Smoked trout and artichoke linguini with a dry Pfalz Riesling

Smoked trout and artichoke linguini with a dry Pfalz Riesling

The other day I found myself at a meeting just round the corner from the newly opened Princess Victoria in Shepherds Bush in West London and popped in for lunch. It’s a splendid old building with a wonderfully baroque ceiling, one of the best I’ve ever seen in a pub.

Celebrate your own Oktoberfest!

Celebrate your own Oktoberfest!

I still remember my visit to the great Oktoberfest in Munich, the world’s biggest beer festival. Mysteriously it’s not held in October at all - or rather it doesn’t start in October but in September - kicking off next weekend.

Pairing wine with Szechuan (or Sichuan) cuisine

Pairing wine with Szechuan (or Sichuan) cuisine

Just as you think you might have got to grips with matching wine with Chinese food along comes a regional cuisine like Szechuan which is twice as challenging, as I discovered at a wine dinner at Flinty Red in Bristol last night.

5 good matches for roast pork belly

5 good matches for roast pork belly

Pork belly has become one of the most popular main courses on restaurant menus so what should you drink with it? It doesn't have to be wine . . .

Oktoberfest potato salad

Oktoberfest potato salad

The key element to this typically Bavarian recipe, which comes from my book An Appetite for Ale, is the addition of hot stock which gives it a consistency half way between a conventional potato salad and mashed potato. It also has the most delicious sweet-sour flavour.

HKK - where the drinks are as fab as the food

HKK - where the drinks are as fab as the food

Maybe Chinese restaurants are like buses. You don’t get any new openings for a while then several come along at once. So after Bo London the other day, it’s HKK, the latest project from the Hakkasan group.

Hot smoked salmon, Korean carrots and pinot gris

Hot smoked salmon, Korean carrots and pinot gris

This is one of those serendipitous pairings you sometimes stumble across when you rustle up a scratch meal and pair it with an open bottle in the fridge.

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