There’s a lady I know, Fiona, who’s written books on matching food and wine. She’s really good at it. I mean really good. Wine and truffles? She’s on it. Wine and Japanese food? Got it covered. Check out her newly launched site for food and wine matches for almost everything you can think of. I say everything. Turns out she hadn’t covered leftovers, and as they make up a large part of my staple diet (I use the term diet very loosely) I asked her if she’d be so kind. She was, and is. Here’s her guest post:
Fishfinger butties
One of my best ever matches was when I was holed up working on a book and the family were away. I staggered down to the kitchen mid-evening to find practically nothing in the fridge except a half-opened pack of fish fingers, some frozen spinach, and a half bottle of Krug (I was writing for the Daily Mail at the time) Five star combination. You don’t, of course, need Krug – cava or prosecco will do fine. Fizz and fried crispy things (including fish and chips) are fantastic together.
Spaghetti bolognese
Leftover spag bol can get a bit claggy so you need a robust Italian red to liven it up. Something like a Montepulciano d’Abruzzo. Merlot isn’t bad either. That of course applies to other pasta shapes with bolognese. It’s the sauce you need to focus on not the pasta (as you can see here).
Half eaten bits of pizza with discarded veggies (most commonly green peppers and mushrooms in my experience)
Similar solution to the above. Which is useful as that’s probably the bottle you’ve got open.
Tuna sarnies
May not be in your regular repertoire – tuna is a bit un-PC these days – but it was my daughter Kate’s favourite. (Flaked tuna, a tablespoon or so of finely chopped onion and sweet-sour pickled cucumber, a dollop of mayo and a squeeze of lemon). On the rare occasion she left any I used to wash it down with a glass of rosé. Perfect. (Try it with salade niçoise too).
Ice cream
Here we’re not talking about leftovers (as if … ) so much as fridge raids. Even bog standard vanilla can be enormously improved by a glass of dark sweet sticky oloroso sherry, one of the wine world’s most underrated bargains. Supermarket own brands are fine. Even better with Ben & Jerry’s Cookie Dough ice cream.
Visit www.matchingfoodandwine.com for considerably more sophisticated matches than these ones. And if you get over there sharpish, there’s a competition to win a case of Louis Roederer Premier Brut Champagne.
KM x
Great post and what a brilliant site! I'm bookmarking that one, I get so lost with wine pairing.
And she's so lovely…
Yes, I've read lots of her work, I like her easy attitude to wine, much like yours. I often feel a bit overwhelmed by wine (ha! Don't we all most evenings!) I mean in choosing it, there is so much mystery in that label that it can be daunting – not to mention, dare I say a bit intimidating, so I welcome anything that makes choosing a cracker easier!
*blushes furiously*
Boiled egg and asparagus? B's away, and it felt simultaneously decadent and healthy…
Washed it down with a glass of water though.
That's another good one for fizz, in this case prosecco or a sparkling chardonnay I suggest. But Cava will do, obvs
Used to read Fiona's cheese blog, lost track of it though. I'll bookmark this one.
Still going but not updated as often as it should be. At http://thecheeselover.blogspot.com
Thanks Fiona.
What about left over curry? And… can you drink these wines early in the morning? 😉
Aha! Trickier one. Depends how hot the curry was. Probably not too hot if the kids have been eating it. Off-dry rosé is surprisingly good with curry. Or a riesling. Or maybe drink one of those 5%-8% moscatos KM was writing about on Monday to kid yourself it's not really wine
I like a glass of wine at tea time when the kids are eating and sometimes I am obliged to eat sausages and beans with them (that's something else no-one tells you about having a baby – you will be eating so many more sausages in your life!) – and my normal red (merlot ish) just doesn't go and I am always torn – eat or drink! I know this isn't your normal class of question but I reckon I can ask it if half eaten pizza is on the agenda!
Totally. Rhone reds such as Côtes du Rhône and Languedoc reds are a personal fave with bangers and beans – unless you're talking pork and leek in which case I generally go for cider (much underrated and fantastically good value).
The fish finger butties wine match is a total must. With of course loads of butter on the bread. At least I'm not eating the left over dog food though…not yet
It's the beans that throw me off I think! Will try them all. Thx.
Absolutely brilliant. I am drooling at the pure thought of a properly sized glass of Merlot. And Rosé and tuna sarnies… mhmmm…
Not long to go now, though eh? You are on the home straight!
Thanks very much! Just headed off there now and signed up, fingers crossed as I'm starting to suffer from a lack of wine! xx
Love it, and just what I need. I feel there is a whole method of coping out there that I just haven't fully apreciated until now! I'm a big fan of fizz too, so that will help.
Good one! Thank you so much for sharing this post/
plant pots