I've gotten some inquiries about the food and wine pairing I shared on The Social, so I am covering the winning pairings below! Just scroll past the video.
Pairing One
Jerk Chicken, Flavours of Guyana + Porto Carras, Assyrtiko, Halkidiki, Greece
In our first pairing, we had Jerk Chicken and a white wine from Greece called Assyrtiko.
In the Porto Carras Assyrtiko, you get bright acidity and honeyed fruit on the palate. The wine also saw some time on lees and in oak; both things that work wonderfully with jerk.
Lees ageing provides a round mouth feel which is essential when pairing wine with well flavoured dishes; it provides a creamy coating on the palate. The clove and allspice that the oak imparts in the wine are also present in the jerk seasoning, now giving us a fantastic congruent food and wine pairing.
Primarily, in this pairing, we are focusing on the jerk seasoning. I want a wine with some weight and ripe fruit, given the spices, and the Porto Carras, Assyrtiko, ticks off the box for weight, given the lees aging. The wine’s honeyed fruit note on the palate tempers the spice, and the subtle oak influence brings out congruent aspects in the pairing.
Pairing Two
Indian/Mexican Fusion Taco, by The Kettle + 80X Wines, When Pigs Fly Rosé, Niagara, Ontario, Canada
Our second pairing was a Street Style Indian Fusion Chicken Taco with a Rosé made from Pinot Noir.
In our street style taco, we have a battered, deep-fried, spicy chicken fritter served on flaky paratha, creamy slaw, and smeared with an assortment of house-made Indian sauces.
With this blend of sauces and Indian spices, you need a wine that supports the dish as opposed to trying to upstage the dish. For that reason, I chose to pair our street style taco from the Kettle with a rosé made from Pinot Noir.
The When Pigs Fly Rosé is one with character and just enough for our dish. Aromas of red berries, violet, and a refreshing burst of strawberry, raspberry, and cherry on the palate, with herbs such as bay leaf and pepper.
This rosé checks the boxes for being mindful of the dish's dominant flavours, and the wine's herb notes allow us to play at flavour bridging.
What is also great about this rosé is its acidity. It cleanses the palate sip after sip, setting you up to discover more flavours in this dish.
Pairing Three
Pholourie and Mango Sour, by Flavours of Guyana + Niepoort Vinhos, NAT Cool! Tinto, Bairrada, Portugal
Our final pairing was Pholourie and Mango Sour with Baga, a native Portuguese grape.
The best way to describe pholourie is to say it is reminiscent of a savoury Timbit. It is by far a Caribbean favourite made from split peas, curry powder, geera, turmeric, garlic, and wiri wiri pepper, to name a few of the spices used.
Pholourie, especially this one from Flavours of Guyana, on its own is delicious, but the tradition is to dip it in a mango sour, which is simply a Caribbean dipping sauce made from mango and herbs.
Pholourie is too big to be paired with white wine, which is what most would gravitate to because of its spice. However, the herbs in pholourie actually bring out the fruit flavours in a medium bodied red wine. The fruit appears slightly riper on the palate.
This is clearly a pairing focused on being mindful of dominant flavours in both the food and wine and having fun with that!
The Nat Cool! Tinto wine, though made from a big red grape (Baga), has been made in a lighter style that already gives focus to the fruit on the palate. Roses, red and black fruit on the nose, and wild plum, cherry, currant, and cocoa on the palate. Another wine with a backbone of needed acidity!
This pairing focuses on watching how much the food transforms the wine. Note the fruit structure change!
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