Wine with Classic British Food
Wine with classic British Food
British cuisine is not what it used to be: in the last decade it has improved beyond recognition!
We have fantastic food served up in pubs, some of the best restaurants in the world and we eat better and healthier in our homes as well. The changes have been brought about in part because of dynamic individuals who promote good food and healthy eating such as Jamie Oliver. The power of the media has worked to encourage cooking at home and, as a result, a great many more of us are experimenting and eating a good, balanced diet. We have a choice of foods from around the world now, giving us greater scope to try out international dishes which continue to influence the way we cook and eat. And these we discover as we travel more frequently and wider than ever before, returning to recreate those dishes here in Britain. We enjoy the diversity and collectively we are broadening our horizons. All this is great news for Britain: no longer can the French sneer at “la mauvaise cuisine d’anglais”! Moreover, the growing trend for drinking wine with food has burgeoned as the world of wine has simultaneously opened up to more of us – and now even the average pub-restaurants are offering a range of wines by the glass. The clammer for good wine and food in Britain has been a cultural explosion synonymous with the new multi-racial society we have become. However: most recently, in these last few years, we have witnessed a small about-turn in the trend for internationalism: an instinctive return and yearning to return to our roots and for what is quintessentially British food and local produce. We are seeing the return of the seasonal veggie box, a new spate of cries to Buy British, consumer demands for information about the raw product, the raising of our animals and the desire for organic, then there`s the carbon count; all these factors have led to the return of our classic dishes as we have never seen them before. Nowadays a more discerning and demanding consumer has insisted on quality and the best of British food can be counted amongst the greatest cuisine in the world. Now acknowledging this return to our roots I felt it time to look again at our classic dishes and the wines to serve with them. No longer pie and chips swimming in gravy washed down with brown ale…. this is a bold new world.
Seafood & Fish
I suppose it has to be said, our national dish as seen by the world outside of Britain is probably still ‘fish and chips’ served in a newspaper! Well I`ve not had a newspaper wrapping for a long time, have you? More`s the point, the fish and chips are better than ever. With the very necessary batter and grease and salt and vinegar your only hope as a wine match is a crisp, acidic dry white which will cut through it all and cleanse the palate. If the occasion warrants it – on the beach at Aldeburgh perhaps? – pop open a bottle of bubbly and spare no expense: there is a certain hedonism like no other in slumming it with `fish and chips` and fine Champagne! Otherwise Sauvignon Blanc or Dry Riesling are great – or for the Englishness of the occasion, Bacchus English dry white! Oysters are a local famous dish here in Colchester with which I have enjoyed all the above wines, though Chablis remains textbook.
Wine match: Poco Mas Sauvignon, Wild Earth Dry Riesling, Greywacke Sauvignon, Cordoniu Clasico or Louis Roederer.
Casseroles
Traditional chicken casserole has a good deal of hearty root vegetables, turnips, carrots and onions, and the most scrummy, herby dumplings. Its French counterpart is Coq au Vin: Louis Latour Valmoissine Pinot Noir. If it`s Lancashire hotpot or lamb casserole: Goats do Roam (red), Coto de Imaz Rioja. With beef stew, a heavier dish, I would go a notch bigger Entity Syrah… and with game stew no holds barred: Le Clos du Caillou Cotes du Rhone, possibly the delicious Faiveley Nuits-Saint-Georges.
Roast Dinners
Typically our Sunday Roast, when family get together: deserving of good wine and great feast. Where chicken and turkey are concerned there are usually so many mixed flavours on the palate it can be a glorious assault of the senses. Best whites are Chardonnays Louis Latour or Faiveley wines but I tend to lean toward light, fruity reds to wash over everything: Poco Mas Merlot, Louis Latour Valmoissine Pinot Noir. Roast lamb warrants a weightier wine Goats do Roam (red), Coto de Imaz Rioja but if you can afford it this is the one to enjoy with Faiveley Nuits-Saint-Georges. Claret is also text book – see my article food & wine matching, the effect of seasoning.
Roast Beef deserves a more substantial red: I love good Syrah Entity Syrah but red burgundy and good Bordeaux also perfect Faiveley Nuits-Saint-Georges, Chateau Rochebelle St Emilion Grand Cru.
Beef steak with all the trimmings (I like chips & salad, but tomatoes & mushrooms instead of salad is topper) Entity Syrah
Steak & Kidney pudding likewise.
Game
Game takes us back to our ancestor`s with atavistic gusto: duck, rabbit, pheasant, venison, grouse: Pasquiers Grenache Noir, Terrazas Malbec, BCrux, Allegrini Palazzo delle Torre, Entity Syrah. Game pie – we are a pie nation after all – deserves a special wine: Faiveley Nuits-Saint-Georges
Curry
Though the spices which give us curry are not home grown, the dish has a place in British psyche and surely therefore deserves a place in this list. Frankly lager can be bloating and anyway an Aspalls cider would be a better choice of the two, but for a wine choice I would recommend Goats do Roam (white) or Plexus or Turckheim Pinot Gris. With a red meat curry, however, I would choose Louis Latour Valmoissine Pinot Noir or Goats do Roam (red). NB. These wines serve well for spicy foods generally, though incidentally with Thai and Chinese spicy foods I would suggest Wild Earth Dry Riesling or Greywacke Sauvignon or Louis Latour Valmoissine Pinot Noir.
Seasonal Vegetables
Our seasonal vegetables have given rise to some of our classic dishes – but one particular vegetable is often served as the centre piece of the dish in its own right and we look forward to its arrival with a degree of anticipation: asparagus. The first asparagus with a pinch of salt, a nub of butter, possibly a shaving of parmesan or even our own cheddar, is sublime. Sauvignon Blanc works perfectly for the occasion – Poco Mas Sauvignon, Greywacke Sauvignon but if you are doing things all English try Carter`s Bacchus, its elderflower and citrus character works a treat as well.
Puds, Fruits, Nuts & Cheeses…
Most anticipated British fruit goes to the Strawberry! The one fruit we really look forward to – and rightly on this list, a classic, with meringue and cream. Apples are also so very British, aren`t they? Any true Brit sees red at the mere sight of all the foreign imports of apples on our supermarket shelves. Apple pie is a classic like no other, served hot with vanilla ice cream or help-yourself cold out of the fridge! And my second best sweet pie goes to Bakewell Tart, the combination of strawberry, cherry or raspberry jam with almond so irresistible – the sweet, low-alcohol slightly sparkling Moscato from Italy again so perfect, perhaps even more so for the much-loved-by-Brits almond element. From our seasonal list highly recommended Muscat de Beaumes de Venise.
Apples and pears, baked and poached, are delicious traditional farmhouse fodder, the apples often spiced with cloves and cinnamon for the festive aromas – but also these fruits served with cheeses make a splendid cheese platter (one or other fruit) and a chance to show off our fine British cheddars and stiltons. Sweet Vouvray, Late Harvest Riesling and Sauternes are explosive combinations. See our website for cheese matchings. From our list 10 year Tawny Port Quinta do Infantado.
Nuts – both autumnal and festive, at Christmas, are an old British favourite – best enjoyed with an old British fancy: Sherry Amontillado or Deliciosa Manzanilla.
Finally, puds – the great Christmas pud, packed full of nuts, dried fruits and laced with brandy; the treakle pud, spotted dick and bread-and-butter pud – all so gloriously British and heavenly … for which I would match with a dark, sweet liquid such as Pedro Ximenez, Maury or Tawny port 10 year Tawny Port Quinta do Infantado.
Conclusion
The best part about returning to our roots is we can do so with experience and an open mind to develop them into better dishes than they ever were. It is good to reminisce – to hanker for a smell, flavour and texture which we crave for comfort and satisfaction. But we can do so without regressing. This is being proven in our greatest, award winning British food restaurants and we can be proud. The best are traditional – classic – but still innovative and delivered with flare. Coming to Colchester is Paul Boorman, head chef at the Firstsite`s new visual arts facility, with a great reputation for producing great British food. We are delighted to be supplying the wines, from which we have drawn our list of recommendations listed in mauve. Paul will be drawing himself on some of the old classics listed here, but he will be presenting the dishes in new ways and, of course, all that is British and good is not limited to these few old classics. We have a great range of local produce – and the best of these can complimented with both experience and product from overseas, in part reflecting our new multi-cultural society, enhancing not diminishing what is quintessentially new, modern day Britain.
Food for thought
Anthony Borges
