Finding the perfect appetizer to pair with red wine can turn into a headache or an exciting gastronomic adventure, depending entirely on how you look at the task.
After all, food while drinking alcohol is needed not only to prevent you from getting drunk quickly, but also to more fully reveal and emphasize the taste and aroma of the drink. So, what do you eat with red wine, and how can you never again be at a loss when choosing the best option?
Now we'll tell you.
What to eat with red wine
You can choose a good addition to red wine by color.
Red meat goes well with red varieties - lamb or beef. A universal snack for all varieties is cheese.
Red and full-bodied wines go well with hard and salty cheeses : cheddar, manchego, gouda, gran padano, Basque sheep's milk cheese, pecorino. Most often, cheese is served on a toasted piece of bread, thereby not complicating such a simple and at the same time delicious snack.
Italian dishes go well with red varieties : pasta, pizza, lasagna. Fans of Spanish cuisine may prefer paella with seafood and jamon . Shish kebab and grilled vegetables will be an excellent complement to this noble drink.
Appetizer for dry red wine
Dry red varieties have a sour, rich and tart taste, and this variety does not have many fans. But the right snack will help brighten up its shortcomings, which will help highlight its advantages.
- Meat dishes.
All kinds of sausages, boiled pork, jamon, prosciutto can be used as a basis for preparing quick snacks. You can make a meat plate or make canapés, alternating meat with bread. Every gourmet knows that bread goes well with wine and does not overwhelm the taste of the drink. Hearty and meat dishes are ideal for table varieties: lamb, beef, meat rolls. These simple products will reduce acidity and make the drink taste soft and pleasant.
- Cheese and dishes with it.
Based on your taste preferences, you can choose any cheese, but it is better to adhere to one simple recommendation from gourmets. Young and soft cheeses are not served with dry red varieties.
Mature varieties of cheese are well suited; its dense structure will allow you to serve it not only in the form of a classic slice, but also in a shaped presentation on skewers. To feel like a real Italian, pair a glass of dry red wine with pasta with cheese sauce or pizza.
- Fruits.
It is difficult to say with certainty whether fruit is suitable for a table drink, but we can definitely conclude that it should be sweet and acid-free fruit. Mango, melon, peach, pear can be a good addition.
Methods for pairing wine and appetizers
There are different ways to approach wine and food pairings, but each pairing falls into two categories. The first is congruent pairs, and the second is complementary pairs. It sounds confusing, but let’s figure it out now.
Congruent pairs
In a congruent pairing, the food and wine chosen will have several compounds or flavors in common. It could be a sweet wine paired with a sweet dish, a red wine with a buttery aftertaste paired with a buttery pasta.
An important tip when creating congruent pairings is to ensure that the wine is not overpowered by food aromas. When this happens, food can soften the wine's flavor. The benefit of a congruent pairing is that the wine and food enhance each other's flavors.
Red wines are great for creating congruent pairings. They are very diverse and easily combined with similar food pairs. Grab a glass of full-bodied Syrah and you'll find that it has a similar flavor profile to some of your favorite roasted meats. Voila - we get an excellent congruent combination.
Complementary pairs
As for complementary pairings, they are based on food and wine pairings that do not share common compounds or flavors, but instead complement each other. The flavors in each are balanced by their contrasting elements.
Rose, white and sparkling wine are excellent choices for contrasting pairings. Pairing a sweet white wine with a spicy dish will allow the sugar in the wine to balance out the spice-rich flavors of the dish.
Another common complementary pairing is white wine with salty dishes. The saltiness of the food actually reduces the sweetness of the wine and gives it a fruity flavor and aroma. A glass of Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio goes well with salty popcorn and especially well with fried foods.
Appetizer for semi-sweet red wine
Semi-sweet wines have a neutral taste, so they go well with many foods.
- Meat dishes.
It goes well not only with red meat, but also with duck, chicken, partridge and rabbit. As a side dish you can serve mushrooms, artichoke, cauliflower or asparagus.
- Cheese.
Ideal with cheeses - brie, camembert, coulomier, rasquera, fontina, Swiss cheese, osso-irati. Mature cheeses are also acceptable, but it is better not to serve light creamy varieties.
- Seafood.
No one can say for sure whether semi-sweet wines go well with fish and seafood. Some people think that the semi-sweet red drink goes well with fatty fish, shrimp and mussels, while others say the opposite.
My advice to you is to rely on your taste, and if you like this combination, then cook the salmon, complement it with vegetables and enjoy the delicious dish.
- Sweet.
Give preference to sweet and fleshy fruits - melon, mango, peach, pear, strawberry, but not citrus fruits. As for desserts, biscuits, meringues, mousses, and ice cream would be an excellent addition.
What to drink red dessert with
Whether you snack on dessert wines or not is up to you. After all, opinions are divided; some believe that this is a self-sufficient drink and does not need any addition. Well, if you are one of those who definitely need to chew something, then you can combine it with blue and green cheese.
For the main course, you can serve red fish or meat, with hot and spicy sauces.
Desserts should be neutral to create a contrast in taste. Dishes that include sweet and sour fruits .
Unleavened dough pies with spicy beans
For the test:
- 500 g flour
- 150 ml water
- salt
For filling:
- 1 can cooked white beans
- 1 medium onion
- 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
- 3–4 sprigs of cilantro
- ½ tsp. ground cumin
- freshly ground black pepper
- salt
- vegetable oil for deep frying
Sift the flour. Mix with salt and water, knead into a tight dough. Form it into a ball, cover with cling film and put in the refrigerator for an hour. Finely chop the onion and sauté in vegetable oil until golden brown. Finely chop the green cilantro.
Prepare the filling. Drain liquid from cooked beans. Mash the beans with a fork, adding fried onions, chopped herbs, freshly ground black pepper, cumin, and salt.
Dust the board with flour and knead the dough. Divide it into three parts, roll one out like dumplings, cover the rest with film so that the dough does not dry out. Cut out circles with a diameter of 5–6 cm from the dough, place a teaspoon of filling in the middle of each and pinch the edges with a tight braid. A tight seal is needed so that the dough does not come apart when frying under the influence of the steam released.
Heat the deep-frying oil until smoking, reduce the heat slightly and fry the pies in batches, turning, for 2-3 minutes. Remove the finished pies with a slotted spoon onto a paper towel to absorb excess fat, and then serve.
Appetizer for dry white wine
White varieties have a delicate and neutral taste, so dishes should be light, without hot seasonings and vinegar dressings, they should not be too sweet or sour, so as not to further emphasize the acidity of the drink.
White wine and cheese are an ideal combination as they have no tannins. But lovers of blue cheeses are out of luck, because this particular type does not go well with white wine. A good snack would be cheeses made from sheep's and goat's milk, as well as Parmesan, Gran Padano, Comté, and Beaufort.
- Seafood.
This drink goes well with any seafood and will perfectly complement and highlight their original taste. A glass of chilled dry drink goes well with oysters, shrimp, squid, lobster, mussels, black and red caviar.
This is also an excellent wine to pair with fish. Lean fish with white meat is suitable, but herring and smoked fish should not be served as an appetizer.
- Meat dishes.
Mild dishes made from chicken, turkey, rabbit, duck and goose liver are good options. You can make a pate from the liver and serve it in tartlets. You can make a Caesar salad from chicken fillet.
An ideal snack to pair with different types of red wine.
Cabernet Sauvignon
Being a full-bodied red wine, Cabernet Sauvignon has high tannin content, as well as tones of blueberry, chokeberry and black currant. This gives it a rich, fruity flavor that matures over time.
Strong tannins make it an excellent choice to pair with steak or lamb chops due to its ability to provide a refreshing finish after every bite of the meat. And this is just one of the options. Other appetizers for Cabernet Sauvignon and other dry red wines include:
- Cheese/nuts: cheddar, gorgonzola, walnuts
- Meat/Poultry: Venison, ribeye, beef stew
- Seafood: Grilled Tuna
- Fruits and vegetables: black cherries, tomatoes, broccoli
- Herbs and spices: rosemary, juniper, lavender
- Desserts: dark chocolate
Syrah
This red wine is the perfect congruent pairing for savory dishes. With a spicy flavor profile, it works well with barbecues, lamb and roasted meats.
The most important thing to consider when pairing Syrah wines is the spice level in both the food and the wine. If the food is significantly spicier than the wine, it will overpower it and cause the wine to lose its spicy profile and flavor. Here are some examples of a suitable pairing for this wine.
- Cheese/nuts: sharp cheddar, Roquefort, white mold cheeses, hazelnuts, walnuts
- Meat/Poultry: Roasted Game, Pepperoni, Hot Sausage, Braised Pork Shoulder
- Seafood: tuna, salmon
- Fruits and vegetables: currants, stewed tomatoes, beets
- Herbs and spices: oregano, sage
- Desserts: rhubarb pie, coffee-based desserts
Merlot
We often forget about this grape variety, as well as the soft berry aromas and wonderful eucalyptus aroma that wines made from it often have. And in vain - it is the second most widespread among grape varieties throughout the world. What to drink it with? Have a few ideas.
- Cheese/nuts: parmesan, chestnuts, walnuts
- Meat/poultry: grilled meat, steak
- Seafood: fried fatty fish, tuna
- Fruits and vegetables: caramelized onions, tomatoes, plums
- Herbs and spices: mint, rosemary, juniper
- Desserts: dark chocolate, berries, fondue
- Author: Maria Minaeva
Appetizer for semi-sweet white wine
Semi-sweet varieties are very popular and are often served with main courses or as an aperitif. All kinds of sandwiches with cheese, seafood or fish pastes are suitable. In order not to interrupt the delicate taste of the drink, all dishes should be gentle, without adding too hot spices.
- Vegetables.
You can prepare stewed or baked vegetables, which can become a light snack or a side dish for a meat dish. These can be zucchini, artichokes, mushrooms, asparagus, cauliflower.
- Seafood.
Depending on your taste preferences, you can cook red or ocean fish, the main thing is not to use too strong seasonings. Mussels, shrimp or squid can be used in salads or served as an appetizer on their own.
- Meat .
Lean and tender meat is suitable. This is a great wine to pair with chicken, which can be baked in the oven with vegetables. Veal is most often served in tandem with cream sauce.
Meatloaves with a variety of fillings also work well. But you shouldn’t serve pork or lamb shish kebab.
- Dessert.
Sliced fruit can be made from apples, pears, kiwi, pineapple, grapes, or served in tandem with ice cream. Any biscuit-based desserts are also suitable.
Fried garlic shrimp Madrid style
This is a type of tapas - a traditional Spanish snack. There are an incredible number of different tapas recipes; every Spanish tapas bar strives to outdo its competitors in originality; tapas festivals are held annually. In this case, it is a hot shrimp appetizer that is prepared in a few minutes.
Ingredients:
- Peeled shrimp
- Garlic
- Chili pepper pod
- Olive oil
- Bunch of parsley
Preparation:
Remove seeds from the chili pod and chop finely. Heat olive oil in a frying pan, add chopped garlic and chili, blanch for about 1 minute. Then add shrimp, salt and pepper to taste. Fry until done. Just before it's ready, add chopped parsley to the pan. Place the prepared snack in a preheated bowl.
Recipes for good quick snacks
Meat canapes
Ingredients:
White bread – 220 g; Jamon – 170 g; Parmesan – 210 g; Balyk – 150 g; Ham – 150 g.
Preparation:
- Cut the balyk, ham and jamon into thin slices. Roll the meat slices into a roll.
- Cut white bread and parmesan into small cubes.
- First we thread a piece of bread, jamon, ham, balyk, and then cheese onto skewers.
- There are a lot of options for such snacks. A very successful combination is cheese, pear and jamon. Here you can use your imagination and experiment with different ingredients.
Bruschetta with sun-dried tomatoes and avocado
What you will need:
Baguette – 1 pc.; Sun-dried tomatoes – 130 g; Feta – 140 g; Cream cheese – 140 g; Avocado – 2 pcs.; Basil – 1 bunch; Olive oil – 50 g.
Preparation:
- Cut the baguette into 1-2 cm slices and place on a baking sheet lined with paper. Spray the bread with olive oil and place in the oven for 8 minutes. You can also dry the baguette on a grill pan.
- Grind the cream cheese and feta into a homogeneous mass.
- Peel the avocado and cut into cubes. If the avocado is too ripe, you can puree it.
- Cut sun-dried tomatoes into cubes.
- Place the cheese mixture on the cooled baguette, then slices of avocado and sun-dried tomatoes. Ready-made bruschetta can be decorated with basil.
Ricotta boats
Ingredients:
Pears – 2 pcs.; Ricotta – 100 g; Cinnamon – 2 g; Liquid honey – 60 g.
Cheese balls in crab shavings
A wonderful snack with a mild yet spicy taste if you add enough garlic.
Ingredients:
- Brynza
- Fetta cheese
- Crab sticks
- Garlic - to taste
Preparation:
Chop the garlic, grate the cheese and fetta on a fine grater. Mix everything and form small balls from the mixture. Pre-freeze the crab sticks in the freezer and then grate them on a coarse grater. Roll the cheese balls in these shavings.
