Rabanadas and tawny port

Having been in Portugal for three days this week it’s no surprise that my top match this week is a port but the food pairing is surprisingly simple and delicious.

It’s a kind of deep-fried spiced, pain perdu-like eggy bread called Rabanadas which is served around Christmas, dusted with cinnamon sugar which turns into a gorgeous gooey syrup. It’s this cinnamony element that makes it particularly delicious with tawny port - in this case a sweet, nutty Taylor’s 20 year old tawny but I'm sure it would work equally well with a 10 y.o.

I like the fact that it was on the menu at the very posh Michelin-starred restaurant at The Yeatman wine hotel in Porto where I was staying for their 2 day Christmas Wine Experience - a two day wine fair where you could taste a wide range of Portuguese wines you wouldn't normally come across. More about this soon.

There’s a delicious-sounding recipe for the Rabanadas on Foodepedia here. I’ll definitely be trying them out with the port this Christmas.