Wine & Spirits

Cocktails 'n' Cuisine

Hints for Successful Food-and-Drink Pairing

    I grew up with wine at dinner. Cocktails were something you had at the bar before your meal or at a dive bar afterwards, if you were young or in the right mood. In 15 years covering the cocktail business, I have had some amazing libations but never imagined I would really want to sip them with my pasta.
    I had an epiphany in New Orleans. It was 90-plus degrees and humid, and I was in town for a five-day celebration of the cocktail aptly called Tales of the Cocktail. One of my favorite mixologists—as the cocktail world has taken to calling serious, dedicated bartenders—was at the shaker. Francesco Lafranconi learned his craft at Harry’s Bar in Venice, Italy, before he was enticed to move to Las Vegas to work for the country’s largest wine and spirits wholesaler, the Miami-based Southern Wine & Spirits. Lafranconi is part mad scientist, and this time he made a tomato-based cocktail with Heineken-basil foam and paired it with a Portobello pizza; it changed my world.
    So now that I am officially a cocktails-and-food convert, I want to spread the word that the right cocktail can pair beautifully with a savory or sweet dish. A mixed drink may not be appropriate for every dish, and you may not want to pair an entire dinner with all cocktails, but searching out the right dish or two to mix up with a balanced drink might just lift your spirits.
    One of the things that is fun about cocktails is that they can be tweaked, like food, to present different flavors in an assortment of settings. Alcohol, acidity and balance are key words in the world of cocktail-and-food pairing. Lowering the alcohol level and increasing acidity are surefire ways to help a drink synergize with a meal. That allows the food to take center stage, notes Erik Adkins, a bar consultant to Flora restaurant in Oakland and the bar manager at San Francisco’s Slanted Door restaurant. His suggested pairings include cured fish or a crudo with a daiquiri or margarita. He also notes that fried foods pair beautifully with Champagne-based cocktails, like the French 75, which cut the foods’ greasy flavors, adding, “You can adjust the sweetness of your drink to match the sweetness of your food.”
    Another way to effectively pair drinks and food is to add flavorings to the cocktails that echo those found in the seasonings of the dishes with which they are paired. Dennis Lapuyade, co-owner and wine and spirits manager of César restaurant, with Oakland and Berkeley locations, notes that basil or thyme can be substituted in a drink like a mint julep to better focus the cocktail’s flavors on the dish with which it is coupled. “Mint is a refreshing element that adds to whatever you are drinking,” he explains. “It stimulates the senses. We are doing a mint julep with salt cod.” He advises that when serving cocktails, food should be kept pretty simple so it doesn’t overpower the drinks and vice versa.
    A fortified wine, such as port or sherry, can be an ideal base for cocktail pairings, says David Wondrich, a New York–based correspondent for Esquire magazine and a cocktail historian. He also says if the food being served has an ethnic background, he will seek out drinks and base ingredients from the same region. The pairings might include a punch made with tea to serve with Indian food or a rum-and-coconut-milk drink to bring out the flavors in Caribbean cuisine. He adds that the cocktails should be based on “things that the locals actually drink.”
    Southern’s Lafranconi tries to balance food and drink when he does pairings. “With hot and spicy food, I try to come up with some sweet component, like pineapple or apple juice,” he says. Unusual and seemingly contrasting matches can also work, such as pairing reposado Tequila and ice wine with foie gras. He also recommends incorporating one of the primary spices, such as coriander or cardamom, present in a dish in its accompanying cocktail. Ambitious cocktail creators should focus on the fresh produce and baking sections and the spice shelves in the supermarket for drink inspirations.
    A trip to your local supermarket or great neighborhood bar will help you get your mojo on for creating some great cocktail pairings. Here’s one idea from Lafranconi to help you get your creative juices flowing.

Amante Picate (“Spicy Love”)

From Francesco Lafranconi
Pair it with seafood ceviche.

2 slices of cucumber (cut ¼-inch thick)
4 leaves of fresh cilantro
2 ounces 100 percent agave Tequila blanco-style
1 ounce fresh lime juice
¾ ounce organic agave nectar syrup
3 dashes of Tabasco Green Jalapeño Sauce
1 slim cucumber wheel for garnish

    Briskly muddle the cucumber slices and cilantro in a shaker tin. Add the rest of the ingredients and two cups of ice and shake vigorously. Strain the drink over a fine mesh strainer (so you can remove the small crushed cilantro leaves) into a chilled Martini glass. Garnish the drink with a cucumber wheel.