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Food and wine pairing ideas

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Meal families

Desserts

Coffee and chocolate charlotte

Charlotte : dessert made with cookies, sponge cake, or bread surrounding a heart filled with compote, jam, cream, jelly or fruit puree.

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Sheep and Goats

Spit-roasted leg of lamb with tarragon

Leg of lamb : cut of meat consisting of the saddle and the leg
One thigh is called Chump.

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Mushrooms, Vegetables, Pasta and Rice

Artichokes a la croque au sel

À la croque au sel : raw vegetables dipped in salt, like radishes.
In general, avoid serving wine with raw artichoke.

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Cheeses

Tomme crayeuse

France. Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Haute-Savoie. Annecy.
Pressed and uncooked cheese made from pasteurized cow's milk with a bloomy rind.
Ripening : 2 months minimum.

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Cooked meats

Lyon-style andouillette

Cooked andouillette with onions, deglazed cooking juices with vinegar.
Served hot.

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Game animals

Hare à la Cuillère with grilled bacon and chasseur sauce

A la cuillère : meat slow-cooked in a casserole dish (4 to 8 hours at 160°C), hollowed out and stuffed, then gratinéed before serving.
Chasseur sauce : brown sauce made from veal (and sometimes beef) stock, white wine, and butter, enhanced with chopped shallots, sliced mushrooms, crushed tomatoes, and finely chopped parsley.

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Shellfish and Seafood

Lobster claws in americaine sauce

American sauce : a tomato-based sauce blended with softened butter, crushed lobster roe and eggs, all strained.
In France, by mistake, the "American sauce" can be distorted into "sauce armoricaine."

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Sea fish

Grilled turbot with beurre blanc sauce

Beurre blanc sauce : shallot reduction with wine and vinegar blended with whipped butter.

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Cheeses

Grilovaný Hermelín

Czech Republic.
Soft-ripened cheese made from cow's milk with a bloomy rind grilled.

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Sea fish

Provençal hake

Provençal : crushed tomatoes, garlic and parsley cooked in olive oil.

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Shellfish and Seafood

Lobster Newberg

Newburg sauce : lobster butter with cream, egg yolks, onions, and Sherry or Madeira.

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Desserts

Mille-feuille

Pastry made with three layers of puff pastry separated by two layers of pastry cream and covered with icing sugar or a fondant.

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Mushrooms, Vegetables, Pasta and Rice

Dolma

Grape leaves or vegetables (eggplant, cabbage, zucchini, bell pepper, tomato, etc) stuffed with spices, onion, rice and sometimes ground meat.

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Beef

Braised beef cheek with carrots

Braise : to cook food slowly, after browning it on all sides, in a small amount of flavored liquid, over low heat and covered.

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Desserts

Ambassadeur

Sponge cake soaked in Grand Marnier (sometimes Kirsch), layered with pastry cream filled with candied fruits, and topped with marzipan (typically green).

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Pork

Peking pork

To glaze : to spread honey over the skin of an animal before cooking in order to achieve a crispy and sweet texture with a shiny appearance.

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