We don’t eat a lot of junk food in our house. Snacks tend to be less processed, and fast food is a rarity. But upon occasion, there is an indulgence in a pairing (Like Champagne and French Fries Day!)
Wendy chose wine and junk food pairings, perhaps indulgent pairings, for this month’s Wine Pairing Weekend topic! While roaming the aisles at the store, I was taken in with a bit of nostalgia.
Our Combined Wine Writers Group writers are focusing on Wine pairing this month with our #WinePW (wine pairing weekend) hashtag. Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm leads us into this exploration of wine and our favorite junk food indulgence! You will find links to my Colleagues’ articles at the end of this post!
Ca’d’Gal and Asti Spumante
I chose an Asti Spumante that I had received from Ca’d’Gal in Italy for this pairing. Sweet and savory…that was where I was going.
Located in the Piemonte region in northwest Italy, Ca’d’Gal has vineyards in the Canelli subzone of the Asti region. They also have vineyards in Calamandrana, where they grow Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay.
Ca’d’Gal primarily makes Moscato d’Asti, a lightly frizzante version of Moscato. They make a range of wines in this style, one that is aged in boxes filled with sand to mimic the way that their grandparent’s aged wines in the grottos or “infernòt.” They only began making Asti Spumante at the request of their US importer.
You can read more about Ca’d’Gal in our article on their Moscato d’Asti.
Reminiscence #1
The wine is sweet and sparkling with notes of honeysuckle, sweet flowers, and fruit. It sits at just 7% alcohol, and yes, it is sweet. This wine is joyful and innocent and brings back memories of sucking the nectar from honeysuckle blossoms as a child.
It’s Pride Month! And this label with the Ca’d’Gal rooster’s tail in brilliant rainbow colors, feels super appropriate!
Planning the pairings
I only partially planned our pairing. I had been talking with RJ (the Baby at Mystère) about pairings and recipes with Vermouth (you will see that later this month). One of the things he suggested was a “poor man’s paté.” He rattled off ingredients to me backstage during the show (if you’ve seen the show, it’s just before his entrance in the golf cart… that’s when we chat.) Of course, I didn’t have a pen to write the recipe down, so I came home with the idea of creating something along those lines.
Of course we would need something to spread that on. The first thing that came to mind was the Pretzel Crisps that we used to love in the office at Zumanity.
Reminiscence #2
Only a few days before, there was a gathering in the theatre to celebrate MadApple’s 2nd Anniversary. They had decided to do a late-night showing of Zumanity, just for insiders, mind you. The cast of Zumanity had been invited.
Zumanity closed during COVID. When we left on March 20th, we all thought we would return in a few weeks. We lacked closure. We had been a family. This showing was a fantastic opportunity for many of us to gather, be rowdy, and watch the amazing show that we used to do nightly.
So…Zu was on my mind, and I decided these Garlic Parmesan Pretzel Crisps would be perfect for my Poor Man’s Pate.
As I wandered the aisles, I looked for crispy potato chips and walked by the aisle with Pringles.
Reminiscence #3
More nostalgia. When I was in elementary and Junior High School, we spent 3 years in Hawaii. My dad was in the military, and we lived on base. Our next-door neighbor had a daughter, and I had my first babysitting job. Genie always called Pringles “pragnons,” which became confusing when her mother became pregnant with her little sister. So, into my basket with a can of Pringles!
I also picked up some goldfish and had Michael grab some salted nuts.
Poor Man’s Paté? Or Whipped charcuterie spread?
When I listened to RJ, I envisioned a cured sausage, ground up with seasonings and a binder. I pictured it dusted with crumbled Cheez-Its or goldfish. I looked up recipes for inspiration and found that most were made with liverwurst. It’s not my flavor profile for this pairing, but it makes sense. Most pate is made with liver. So, I looked up meat spreads. I’d love to say that this was more of a terrine, but other than the similarity of the grinding of the meat, it’s not. Can I call it whipped charcuterie spread? Meat spread just feels so inelegant.
Here is what I did. I found skinless frankfurters in the deli section of the store. Are these just high-end hot dogs? Yes, yes, they are. I used the shredding disc on my food processor to mince the 4 frankfurters, then the S-blade grind it up finer. I added 1/3 cup of cream cheese as a binder and some fresh thyme. The frankfurters were seasoned enough that it did not need salt.
I had read in one of the recipes that I came across a method of folding in unsweetened whipped cream to lighten the mixture, which sounded perfect. I whipped up about ½ cup of whipping cream and used ½ of that in the meat mixture, gently folded in. For the rest, I added a drizzle of honey and a sprinkling of lavender (inspiration in the moment!)
The whipped meat mixture went into a ramekin for serving. It got a sprinkling of crushed goldfish on one side and a drizzle of balsamic reduction on the other, with two goldfish tucked in like they were swimming.
The grazing board
- Whipped charcuterie spread
- Pringles originals
- Goldfish
- Garlic Parmesan Pretzel Crisps
- Red grapes
- Roasted red grapes in olive oil with thyme
- Roasted salted peanuts
- Honeycomb
- Lavender honey whipped cream
- Mini sweet peppers
- Gouda
- Jasper Hill Whitney (a cow’s milk cheese)
The results of the pairings!
With the exception of the peppers, the flavors were all accentuated by the wine. The thyme popped, the peanuts were peanuttier, the goldfish were cheesier, and the cheeses were more aromatic in my mouth. The whipped charcuterie spread? It was savory and light, and the thyme popped.
We used the pretzel crisps and potato chips to scoop up the whipped charcuterie spread (I will keep repeating that and try to make it a thing!) A bit of the whipped cream with honey and lavender was delicious, scooped up with a Pringle and a sip of the wine!
Across the board, we were happy grazers!
I love this board because it is a combination of low-brow and high-brow. It bridges the gap and reminds you to respect all the flavors and find joy in them.
Wine and Junk Food or Guilty Pleasures pairings from the #WinePW writers!
- Gwendolyn Alley Wine Predator says Fresh from My Trip to Palermo. It’s Time for Italian Style Apertivo with Organic Grillo from Cantine Ermes “Vento di Mare” Sicilia DOC
- Culinary Cam is Elevating Mac’n’Cheese: Truffled Pasta + 2023 iLauri ‘Chiola’ Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo Rosato / Culinary Cam
- A Day in the Life on the Farm enjoys Altos de la Guardia Rioja paired with Taco Ticos
Robin Renken is a wine writer and Certified Specialist of Wine and WSET 3 Certified. She and her husband Michael travel to wine regions interviewing vineyard owners and winemakers and learning the stories behind the glass.
When not traveling they indulge in cooking and pairing wines with food at home in Las Vegas.
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