We’re trying something a little different tonight. I have a wine pairing challenge for you.
A friend and colleague of mine, Todd Jessee, is the Cheating Gourmet at a website called Man of the House. The idea of the Cheating Gourmet is to take what may seem like complicated recipes and find shortcuts, or cheats as he calls them, to turn them into a simple recipes. I love what he’s doing with it and as we were talking about it he suggested we try to do something to connect my wine stuff with some of his recipes. But when I looked at the recipes he’s done so far, most of them aren’t necessarily foods I would pair with wine.
So, I thought it would be fun to turn it into a pairing challenge. I’m going to try a few of these over the next few weeks, so put on your thinking caps and give me your best pairing.
The first one up is Blackstrap Molasses Shrimp. At first glance this may seem like an easy pairing. It’s shellfish, right? But give it a little more thought. Blackstrap molasses is going to add a sweet layer to this dish that might have you reconsidering your goto wine for shrimp. And there’s a couple other ingredients in the recipe too that may lead you in another direction.
I have an idea of how I’d pair it, but I’m going to hold back for now because I want to hear what you think. So check out the recipe and then let me know what you think the perfect wine pairing is.
That is an interesting challenge. I’d probably go with a pinot noir. But then I like pinot noir with just about everything.
I’d want to make the recipe first to see how sweet it ends up before making a final decision, but I’m leaning towards a Madeira. It’s going to have enough sweetness to it to hold up against the molasses and brown sugar. Yet as a “cooked” wine I think it will have some character that will complement the dish.
What a great looking recipe and love the challenge! Because of the beef broth base and the molasses, I’m leaning more towards a red blend from Southern France or possibly an Italian Barbera or Dolcetto. Can’t wait to hear what paired best with it!
Todd has a good camera presence. I like the vids.
This pairing is a tough one, though.
I’d probably go california zin and hope the fruit and some RS hold up against it.
Thanks for the great suggestions… keep them coming. And Jeff, thanks for using an acronym that 90% of our readers won’t know 😉
RS = Residual Sugar, for those who didn’t know that one.
I like Jeff’s suggestion of the zin, but I think I’d go with a shiraz. Just because it’s more of a jammy fruit than the zinfandel and less spice, I think it would work well.