Here's Karel's wine pairing with monkey gland sauce and more specifically for the recipe for surf 'n turf with my version of the (in)famous Southern African sauce I posted on here a while back. Required reading for those who love monkey gland sauce and good wine.
The imperfect pairing
Back in May, on my sister's birthday to be exact, I published my recipe for surf 'n turf with a monkey gland sauce with a little twist. You can find that recipe here.
In the interim, our resident (well, actually resident in Frankfurt) oenologist Karel Doms has been working hard, to pair the right wines with this dish. And, it seems it's been a little challenging. Nonetheless here is his advice for pairing wine with monkey gland sauce with surf 'n turf. Though, reading what he has to say, I suspect his pairings apply equally well to monkey gland sauce served without the "surf", simply with a more traditional steak.
This is what Karel had to say:
"Presuming there is only one variety (Ed: Actually there a quite a few varieties of Mrs. Balls', but from the sounds of it you found the correct "original chutney" more widely available in Europe than the others), I found Mrs. Balls' chutney and am in mild state of despair: peach and apricot? So we have to deal with prawns wrapped up in beef, coated in sweetish tomato sauce with brown sugar, peach and apricot. That’s wicked. Don’t get me wrong: I do love a savoury surf ’n turf and a fine wine to accompany it. But this recipe stretches the limits, and, spoiler alert, I couldn’t find any “perfect” pairing in my own, admittedly limited vinous universe.
"Having said that, as long as one doesn’t expect to do magic, there would seem to be a number of interesting possibilities. And wait, even better: because there is no Graal in sight, the happy diner can actually start from their own wine preference or momentary mood and choose an appropriate wine, be it rosé, red or white. The one paramount proviso being that food and wine may not clash head-on, in the worst case, destroy each other.
"Just a few things to remember, then.
"Don't go for a heavy-hitter in an attempt to have it stand up against the sauce: it won’t work. Choose a light-footed wine with enough personality to remain in the game; one that can dance around the food.
"You need fresh acidity (tomatoes, prawns) but not fiercely so (the beef will not like it).
In a similar vein, you may search for a pronounced mineral character or saltiness. But, attention, that alone does not do the trick; just any white wine from a chalky soil or a growing area near the ocean will not necessarily work.
"Avoid pronounced sweetness, you have enough of that in the sauce; any richness one might hope to achieve from that will turn out mere flabbiness. Meant are wines such as primitivo or riesling with noticeable residual sugar, for instance, that would otherwise often appear on the list of usual suspects.
"Mostly, choose a young wine that you (ok, I mean I myself, probably) might otherwise even consider too young to drink. Save your very refined and complex wines for other occasions.
"Here are my own candidates.
"You mentioned a pairing with a “butch” rosé yourself. Yes, absolutely, I also have a clear champion in that vein: Elena Fucci, Titolo Pink Edition from young aglianico vines in Basilicata.
"One more ample rosé from the southern Côtes du Rhône: Tardieu-Laurent, Tavel Vieilles Vignes, a blend of some ⅔ grenache with syrah and some cinsault. I tried the 2022 and noticed something “peachy" in its peacock wheel of aromatics: match.
"In red, I found a nice match in Bierzo from winemaker of genius Raúl Pérez: Ultreia Saint Jacques, a blend of mainly mencia. Good price and availability, hurrah, therefore some more information on this particular one: here.
Another seductive red from Languedoc: Domaine du Pas de l’Escalette, Les Clapas rouge, a syrah/carignan/grenache from the Terraces du Larzac.
"Also, pinotage is on my shortlist not merely because of the dish’s origin. One possible pitfall is the variety of styles, but you’re in a perfect position to judge on those. No surprise: I am an aficionado of the wonderful David & Nadia, Swartland pinotage.
"In white, back to Bierzo and once again Raúl Pérez. This time, his entry level Ultreia godello. Indeed, I have specifically chosen that “simple” wine. At first, I had tried Raúl’s differently elaborated La Vizcaiana godello from other plots with rich layers of fruit, mineral profile, persistent yet svelte and dry. Brilliant, it seemed to tick all the boxes but somehow the acidity, although present, was not “loud” enough for the dish and so, for my palate, it missed target. The simple godello nailed it—reminder to myself never to be too generic with a grape variety recommendation (I won’t)...
"Riesling often seems to leap to one’s mind. Fine here too, but pay attention. Should you go for a young modern German “GG” (= Großes Gewächs, in other words a grand cru) riesling, the acidity risks to be too razorblade-like. An old school Kabinett or Spätlese—even if stated “trocken”—on the other hand may show too much residual sugar. I throw a wine of my own all time favourite estate into the arena: Heymann-Löwenstein, Schieferterrassen from the Mosel area. I always found, Reinhard’s and now Sarah Löwenstein’s rieslings have a surplus depth and texture that is very welcome with the dish. Oh, no “petrol” waft here that some may fear to be a riesling hallmark.
"Also suggested and something of a cousin to riesling is a dry chenin from the Loire region: Domaine Huet, Vouvray sec Clos du Bourg. Important: always make sure you’re dealing with “sec” version as, depending on the year, wines with the same designation may also be presented in a “moelleux” or “demi-sec” version.
"The odd one out in white is a salty, breezy ocean wine: Equipo Navazos, La Botta de Manzanilla n° 82 - “Florpower MMXV”. Sure enough, sherry from Sanlucar de Barameda and an exception to the “young wine” advice of course. One word of advice: open the bottle at least the day before, try some and close again after, say, an hour or so. I suggest to do this because upon first contact with air, there is something very wild about this including a smell that may be reminiscent of, ahem, Chicken Shack.
"Love the bubble ’n squeak cakes by the way, brilliant!"
Comments