In our month-to-month column, “Cider Loves Meals,” contributor Meredith Collins (blogger extraordinaire at Alongside Got here a Cider) is completely different cuisines and discovering the proper ciders to assist take your meals to the following stage.
It’s formally summer season: the season of fireworks, watermelon, trip and lengthy evenings full of fireflies. There are such a lot of alternatives for actions that simply aren’t doable the remainder of the yr, like swimming and managing the overactive backyard, that generally I’m too busy for the sort of cooking I do the remainder of the yr. And generally the kitchen is simply too scorching to prepare dinner! My resolution in these conditions is to make sandwiches, and I’d like to share a number of methods to make pleasant cider and sandwich pairings.
Listed below are a number of of my favorites:
BLTA
My most popular model of the traditional BLT is vegetarian bacon, purple leaf lettuce and heirloom tomato with avocado on complete wheat toast (therefore a BLTA). It’s such an ideal interaction of textures and flavors! Pair a BLTA with Ploughman Rosedale Cider, a super-tart dry cider made with crab apples. The high-acid profile helps elevate up the richness of the avocado and minimize via the salty veggie bacon.
Falafel Pita with Feta and Roasted Carrots
Good falafel is natural and aromatic, an ideal journey via the preliminary crunch, adopted by a steamy, yielding middle. Including piquant feta, creamy tzatziki sauce, cool diced cucumber and roasted carrots makes a falafel pita a sandwich to be reckoned with. Making home made falafel is numerous work, so I like to recommend getting one to-go out of your native falafel joint and accompanying it with Gowan’s Heirloom Cider’s Gravenstein. This cider has only a little bit of sweetness, making it excellent for the bitter notes from cucumber pores and skin and parsley.
Smoked Salmon on Rye
Nobody in my home craves smoked salmon like I do. I want its salty satisfaction on thinly sliced rye bread with sprouts and cucumbers. It’s a fragile sandwich, in case you go mild on the substances, however you possibly can actually pile them on to make this a full meal. With this sandwich, strive a frivolously oaked or barrel-aged cider: I just like the oaked model of the Fennville AVA Collection (Wyncroft & Wyncroft Aged On Oak), however you might open each and see which you favor. There’s simply one thing concerning the cider’s heat and twiggy barrel character that pairs so nicely with the smoked fish flavors.
Halloumi and Beets on Baguette
Ever since I visited Scotland a number of years in the past, Halloumi has been one among my favourite cheeses. Typically referred to as “bread cheese,” Halloumi is a dense, agency Greek cheese that’s a mixture of goat and/or cow and sheep’s milk; its foremost get together trick is which you can fry it or grill it for a extremely cool interaction of textures.
I like Halloumi with child spinach and sliced beets on a baguette, with both lemon tahini dressing or a zesty horseradish sauce. The beets carry delicate earthiness and sweetness, which distinction fantastically with both sandwich unfold. This sandwich travels nicely, so it’s nice to pack for a picnic. Ingesting Fortress Hill Cider’s Celestial with this baguette sandwich is a superb deal with. The cider jogs my memory of candy oranges and inexperienced tea. The pairing works as a result of the Celestial brings plentiful bubbles and physique, whereas the sandwich is hearty with agency greens and an nearly meaty-textured cheese. Even fascinated with this makes me crave this duo!
Banh Mi
Whether or not you favor a meat-filled banh mi or vegetarian model with seitan (as I do), this Vietnamese sandwich is distinctive, with pickled carrot, cucumber, chiles and cilantro layered in a fantastically crusty roll. Due to the spicy and bitter toppings, strive pairing banh mi with candy ciders. I like utilizing a keeved cider, like South Hill Cider’s 2020 Keeved, for this match. And a keeved cider is a really particular solution to keep pure apple sweetness after fermentation.
Grilled Manchego and Quince Paste with Arugula on Sourdough
I couldn’t presumably make a sandwich checklist with out together with some type of grilled cheese! This model is a totally decadent one. Begin by softening salty Manchego cheese on sourdough bread open-faced model, then unfold the opposite piece of bread with quince paste and toast that, too. As soon as these two key substances are in place and heat, put them along with a small heap of peppery arugula. I pair this Spanish-inspired grilled cheese with Isastegi Sidra Pure. The logic goes, “If it grows collectively, it goes collectively.” This sandwich is forcefully flavorful, subsequently it wants the high-acid refreshment of this pure Spanish cider. (If you wish to strive a Basque-style cider made within the US, try this Cider Tradition function!)
Right here’s wishing you a summer season of wildly scrumptious cider and sandwich pairings! For extra warm-weather pairing concepts, try my Cider Loves Meals options about Picnic Pairings, CSA Veggies and Grilled Cookout Fare.
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