The Best Wines for Fried Food
Plus – recipes for aloo pakora, panelle, and a lemon drop cocktail
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Letter From the Editor
It’s a busy week.
Spring is always a time of wine shows and tastings; wineries and ambassadors flying in from all over the world to showcase their latest vintages.
While I’ve found absolutely no one to feel sorry for me – a bit like feeling sad for the restaurant reviewer who complains about not having enough time for all the free dinners at Michelin-starred restaurants – it can get a little out of control.
I’ve dialled back in recent years, picking only the most relevant to me, and generally only those that offer the so-called “master class” – a deep dive into a specific subject, generally led by an expert, a Master Sommelier or winemaker, to a smaller group of industry pros. The walk-around, self-guided tastings, while fun and social and all that, can take up a boat load of time, and as they say, time is money. (Not for me, personally, see last week’s post in that regard.)
Blast From the Past – Don’t Miss These Posts
I broke that rule on Monday for the annual Taste Ontario showcase. I think we’re up to about 180 wineries in Ontario now (it’s really hard to keep track, as the People In Charge break it down in such exacting, red-tape ways – member-wineries, vineyards, VQA – some numbers suggest 150, some numbers suggest nearly 300. Which is a big, fat, who cares for most wine lovers, but there you have it.)
Anyway, Taste Ontario, a fabulous gathering of most of Ontario’s wineries, is a real hootenanny. I spent more time talking with friends than trying their wines, though, of course, I managed to wedge in a few.
If you haven’t tried Ontario wines yet, or worse, if you are still labouring under long outdated beliefs that Ontario doesn’t make good wine, I think you should try a few should you ever spot one on the wine list. Ontario has decent exports (we’re not huge so don’t expect mass volumes of unlimited supply, but latest stats suggest about a million litres) to northern European markets like Norway, Denmark and Germany, as well as the UK, France, China and Japan and the US (quite a bit to New York, so I’m told.)
Tourists love Ontario for our world-class Icewine (one word, capitalized) and we’re lauded for outstanding traditional method sparkling wine (years ago the CBC brought me in to do a segment taste-testing local bubbly against Champagne… very few wine lovers could spot a difference, and those who did basically won the coin toss.) But Ontario also has a number of excellent table wines. Leading the charge are Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Noir, Gamay, and Cabernet Franc, but there’s about 40 other grapes winemakers play around with to great success.
One of my favourite ways to serve wine – other than always and with everything – is the high/low juxtaposition of bubbly with fried foods. Salt and vinegar chips with fruity Prosecco is a home run, and my personal fave is buttery popcorn with brut bubbly. Did I ever tell you the story of when I was a dating a chef and we got in a tiff? He showed up at my door with a bottle of champers, popcorn kernels and truffle oil (for the popcorn). It was a much better mea culpa than flowers, let me tell you.
So Today…
We are talking excellent fried snacks with casually elegant cocktails and perfect wine pairings.
Food: Indian Aloo Pakora and Sicilian Panelle
Wine Pairing & Lesson: Wines for Fried Foods and What to Consider When Pairing
Cocktail: Lemon Drop – simple, stylish and summery. And why it’s probably your best bet for fried foods.
It Was Professor Plum in the Kitchen With a Deep Fryer
I’m feeling playful, so I've left a clue in one of the recipes about potential wine pairings. Those of you who love a good riddle – or perhaps mediocre depending on the strength of your sleuthing abilities – will enjoy it, I hope.
»»Before we get into it, I’ve included a lot of photos, and Substack has told me this post is too long for most emails. If this is cut off in your email, just click on "view entire message" and you'll be able to see the entire post in your email app.