Champagne & triple crèmes
A real textural pairing with Champagne’s bubbles cutting through some of cheese’s fat content. The key is there in the name – triple crème means three times the extra fat content which gives you a soft, creamy texture and a decadent, rich flavour.
Sauvignon Blanc & goats cheese
Forget your grassy cheap sav blancs, we’re talking sauvignon blanc more like at its origin, the Loire Valley in France. Goats cheese has a fresh, citrus flavour as does a more traditional style of sauvignon blanc.
Pinot Noir & washed rinds
Washed rinds are generally more pungent, odourous style of soft cheese. This family calls for lighter style reds with tannins that won’t overpower the cheese. Interestingly, you may notice this pairing brings out more earthy notes to both the wine and cheese.
Cabernet Sauvignon & clothbound Cheddar
Full-bodied reds need full-bodied cheese. These styles of wine usually have medium to high tannins as well as some acidity and they require a more intense cheese which can stand up to and meet the drink where it is at. An aged clothbound Cheddar is just the cheese for the job.
Farmhouse Cider & Normandy Camembert
I implore you to give this combo a go. The Normandy region of France is home to a lot of cows and a lot of apple orchards. Traditional French camembert has a rustic, barnyard-y flavour just like a farmhouse-style apple cider.
Fortified wines & blue cheese
This is one of those contrasting as opposed to side-by-side pairings. Blue cheese tends salty and strong, which is why it needs something sweet. Our Christmas ritual is a large wedge of Stilton and bottle of port. Trust me on this one.
Whisky & aged gouda
If you’ve tasted aged gouda you know it’s a far call from cheap supermarket gouda (as are so many cheeses). My preferred aged gouda is matured for 24 months has a firm texture, complex flavour with notes of caramel. Aged single malt whisky is a bold match but go big or go home, in my books.
We live in a small apartment with a very small kitchen, so I run a tight ship. Anything that earns space in there has to punch above its weight. Products have to prove themselves. If they don’t earn their keep, they’re out.
This is a hug in the shape of a loaf tin, reassuring in only the way an old-school reliable pantry cake can be. I say pantry cake because mostly I have all the ingredients in the pantry, even if that is a set of drawers in my small, city apartment.
Last weekend I gathered a handful of friends at someone’s house and we cooked together. Not a dinner party where one person does the work and everyone else arrives with a bottle. Not a formal class in a commercial kitchen. Just a group of curious eaters in a real home…