September 1, 2014Neal (The Wine Wankers)

REVEALED: The perfect food and wine match

ceviche 3Reams are written about matching food and wine and while most of these tomes are written with good intentions, the information given is often fairly general, i.e. drink with seafood.  Wine labels are also, by necessity, equally broad regarding the food matches for the given vino.  Now this is all great if you are a seasoned cook/chef with recipes at your disposal, however most of us are not.  On contemplating this for some time we thought it would be interesting to be specific, bringing together a recipe that is reasonably simple and affordable, with a wine that is quite accessible.

Now we are not a food blog, however we are a wine blog that espouses that matching food and wine is one of life’s great pleasures (see how not to be a ww), so we thought we would put our money where our mouth is and spill some detail.  The result in this case is the creation of an alchemy of flavours that are simply not possible in isolation. Wine tastes different/better with food and food usually tastes better with wine; it just does.

ceviche 1As for the Riesling, if you want a specific wine grab a Crawford River (2012 or 2013) Young Vines Riesling. This is a sensational wine and retails for a little over $25. Otherwise anything good from the Clare Valley, Eden Valley or Canberra. If you are not in Australia look for a fairly dry style, not a sweet one.

This ceviche recipe is a combination of a few different variations, along with and a lot of experimentation. Don’t be turned off by the raw seafood, it is actually cooked by the acid in the citrus juices and is an absolutely cracking dish.  We can’t encourage you enough to have a go at this, you will never be the same, is is absolutely delicious.

Salmon Ceviche (WW Style) – serves 2

Ingredients

2 pieces of Salmon (skinned and boned) – sliced into 1cm cubes (need a sharp knife)

3 long green chilies finely chopped (1 or 2 if you don’t like a little heat)

Juice of 2 limes

1 orange peeled and diced up into 1cm cubes

A cup of orange juice (try and use un-sweetened)

Half an onion finely chopped (preferably a red one)

5 Tortillas quartered (use a pizza cutter)

Half a cup of fresh Coriander chopped up (optional but lovely)

Method

Preheat oven 180c.

Stick your tortillas in the oven until they just start to crisp (5 minutes).

Get your Riesling out of the fridge and let it warm up a little, it’s not supposed to be consumed at fridge temp (5-6c) but rather we prefer it at about 9-10c.

Combine everything except the Salmon in a glass or ceramic bowl.

ceviche 2Add the fish and give it a good stir and ensure the fish is just covered in juice, if not top up with Orange juice.

Leave it to sit for 2 minutes, this will just cook the fish. If you are a little concerned and want the fish cooked right through leave it in for 5 minutes.

Add the coriander and a little salt to taste.

Briefly drain the ingredients and put in a serving bowl.

Serve with tortillas

ceviche 4Appreciation

Pour your Riesling, have a sip. Hmm limes, lemon, apple, acidity.

Ok pile some ceviche on a tortilla quarter, eat, then sip your Riesling again.

You might notice the Riesling has a more pronounced flavour profile, perhaps you can pick up other flavours in the profile not evident before?  Often the acidity drops away and the other elements become more pronounced and move to the fore.  You might also notice that the ceviche is more delicious and the flavours of the elements in the dish taste more pronounced.

There you go, we hope you enjoyed this. We eat this dish weekly, and it is very healthy as long as you stop at some point. Give it a go then come back and let us know how you fared.

Cheers

Neal (The Wine Wankers)

61 comments

  5. I’m sure ya’ll heard about the quake in Napa Valley California. I thought I heard a collective cry of disbelief over the vineyards that got hit pretty hard. I guess its time to try some wines from the rest of the country.. 🙂
    p.s. I’ll be home in a day so I’ll crack a bottle and have a steak and a toast to the folks in Napa Valley..

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  13. Riesling would’ve been perfect indeed alongside the scallop ceviche I posted about on Tuesday—wish I’d been wise enough to order that instead of the day’s ‘special’ cocktail, which wasn’t. But the ceviche was good enough that I can toast it in absentia with a glass or two of Riesling this weekend, if I happen to remember it! 😉 Richard’s birthday tomorrow, so we’ll surely need to toast a few times with *something* or other anyway!
    😀
    Cheers,
    Kathryn

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  17. Salmon Ceviche!? I’m in!

    Do you have any suggestions for someone who loves fish, but doesn’t like white wines? I always order a red, but not sure if there are better reds than others for fish matching. Is a Pinot Noir a better match for fish than a Merlot for example?

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  19. I adore ceviche, and the pairing sounds wonderful! You guys… now I have to go to the grocery store. I’m not going to be able to get this out of my head. Salmon has such a great texture and really holds up to acid well, so I can’t wait to give it a go! Cheers!

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  20. As I said on twitter, easy to make, it´s economically good, and taste good, always interesting. Between you three you´re truly making the whole wine experience for the inexperience a whole new and cool experience.

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  23. My mouth is salivating! I appreciate this post! I must go home soon from the library and eat dinner! I have not been getting your posts in my ‘Reader’ anymore… sorry you have not heard from me in a while… Smiles, Robin

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  24. Excellent timing for me because we just returned from a region that does Riesling very well … but our matches won’t include fish because it’s on my wife’s don’t-eat list. Meanwhile, well done … cheers!

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  26. Being somewhat wedded to prime rib au jus and african rock lobster tail, I am still intrigued by your civiche recipe and find it both fascinating, gratifying and inspiringly paired with the wine.
    Thank you for the pleasure.

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