Pairings | Duck

The best food pairings for Lambrusco

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on June 21 2017 at 07:26

If you’re wondering why I’m devoting a post to Lambrusco you obviously haven’t tasted the real thing and today, Lambrusco Day, is your ideal opportunity to try it.

Forget the weedy, sickly-sweet lambruscos you may have tasted in your youth - authentic lambrusco secco is seductively crimson, frothy and totally dry.

So what should you eat with it? Well, in Emilia-Romagna where it’s made they almost certainly go for pork, as I've suggested before - salumi (cold meats) such as salami, prosciutto (ham), mortadella and bresaola, porchetta (rolled pork with herbs) and Italian-style sausages with fennel. It’s fantastic with pizza (you should definitely try it with pizza!) You could even drink it with lasagne and other richly sauced pasta dishes.

But I reckon it’s also a brilliant barbecue wine - drink it lightly chilled with grilled chicken, lamb or pulled pork or even a burger or steak. It will offset fatty meats such as duck or goose - it would be great with confit duck. And there’s no reason not to drink it with meaty or oily fish such as grilled tuna or sardines.

Cheese-wise you could pair it with hard sheeps’ cheeses like pecorino and with aged cheeses such as parmigiano reggiano and grana padano - or drink it - as you would drink Beaujolais with a terrine, fromage de tête or brawn.

Sweeter (amabile) lambruscos are delicious with summer fruits, especially peaches and nectarines

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