Match of the week

Hake with white asparagus, smoked caviar and gamay

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on April 21 2025 at 12:21

You might instinctively reach for a glass of white wine with hake but red wine can work equally well. And not only when it has a red wine sauce.

This dish at The Blue Pelican in Deal which, despite the name, is an excellent Japanese restaurant, came with white asparagus, smoked Petrossian caviar and a sauce which I’m guessing included miso and mirin.

It was richly umami anyway which made it a an obvious pairing with the orange Beaujolais they had listed on the short, smart wine by the glass list.

But it was the red - a Domaine St Cyr ‘La Galoche’ Gamay from the same region that was the greater surprise, complementing the hake without overpowering the delicate flavour of the asparagus or the caviar.

It was, also a great match with a dish of pork belly with cockles and sansho pepper but then gamay almost always works with pork.

Although we kicked off with a white - an A Desconhecida Arinto blanco - you could perfectly well drink a red like this throughout a Japanese meal.

You can buy the La Galoche from Uncharted Wine for £20.29 or £21.95 from Cork & Cask in Edinburgh

For other Beaujolais pairings see Top Food Matches for Beaujolais (and other gamay)

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