That restaurants around the country are beginning to offer food–cocktail pairings is a testament to how far cocktails have come in recent years, an acknowledgment that thoughtful, carefully made cocktails are worthy of chefs' creations. "Finally restaurants are hiring talented bartenders with great palates, who understand balance, depth, and complexity," says Audrey Saunders, owner of Pegu Club in Manhattan, whose bar-food menu lists suggested cocktail pairings.
Magarian believes his greatest cocktail-pairing success involved a grilled romaine salad with bacon, apple, and Roquefort vinaigrette and a sidecar made with apple brandy. "A guest said, 'Now I can't imagine having that salad without that drink,'" he says. "This is the goal of what we do." When Magarian asked a sommelier what he would've paired with that same salad, he said, "'A Riesling, because it's a little sweet,
has nice acidity, and is very fruity.' Then I said, 'That's just like my sidecar!'"
"If you take two seconds to think about what you drink instead of just grabbing what's handy, you're going to increase your enjoyment exponentially," says Karen Page, author (along with her husband, Andrew Dornenburg) of
What to Drink with What You Eat (Bulfinch Press, 2006). So in deciding what drinks to serve your guests, take into account the deviled eggs you made or the oysters you shucked. "An oyster is this light, bright, briny thing and so is a Martini," says Dornenburg. "Whereas if you paired oysters with a Manhattan ... well, I have a hard time even saying that out loud."
Tips for great pairings
You don't have to be a master mixologist to dream up exciting pairings. "Just think about association of flavor," says Karen Page. "Olive oil in a dish might take you to lemon. If you're working with butter sauce, you might want to use vanilla." Deciding what to pair with Thanksgiving dinner? Consider a drink with cranberry.
A cocktail can complement a dish by either matching or contrasting its flavors. "People who do barbecue pairings will often use bourbon," says Andrew Dornenburg, as the smoky flavor of the meat goes well with the smoky, woody flavor of the spirit. "If you have something something that's really hot, like a spicy tuna roll," says Ryan Magarian, "choose something with cooling flavors, like a cucumber-watermelon Mojito."
Add herbs
Mint gives Juleps and Mojitos a delightful boost, so why stop there? "Herbs are an excellent way to bond cocktails with food," says Magarian, who uses them often to match similar flavors in a dish and to add an extra layer of complexity to his cocktails. He frequently pairs sage with tequila and gin with rosemary. Incorporating herbs into cocktails doesn't always mean muddling; sometimes just a sprig as garnish provides the aromatic touch you need.
"Don't pick a cocktail that will overpower the dish," says Saunders. "For example, I wouldn't serve whiskey with raw oysters, but I would certainly serve it with our sloppy duck sandwiches." Magarian agrees: "You wouldn't have a Bordeaux with sushi, and you wouldn't have a Manhattan with sushi."
Cocktails are lower in alcohol than most people think. After a spirit is combined with citrus juice and simple syrup, then diluted from being shaken or stirred with ice, says Magarian, the resulting drink's alcohol content can be as low as, if not lower than, 20 percent, close to that of a California Zinfandel. Still, you don't want to pair a particularly alcoholic cocktail, such as an Old Fashioned, with a dish that has especially subtle flavors.
When pairing cocktails, pay attention not only to flavor, but also to mouthfeel. "Apple juice has a whole different body than tomato juice, which has a whole different one than seltzer," says Page. Just as you might serve Sauternes with dessert, you should consider a similarly full-bodied cocktail for the end of the meal.
Will Goldfarb, the innovative pastry chef in New York City, is a big fan of unconventional combinations, brazenly pairing his sweets with dry red wines and making similarly counterintuitive decisions with his cocktails. For example, instead of serving very sweet cocktails with chocolate desserts, he chooses lighter, more acidic ones made from rich-flavored brown spirits, such as cognac and aged whisky. For confections that incorporate fruit, he suggests sweeter cocktails to temper their tartness. He reminds us that there are no rules and all that matters is that a pairing works.
Forget those bottle openers that you used to hang from your key ring in college.
