Pairing wine with spicy food at London restaurants KOL and Gunpowder
Wine and spice make for a tricky duo. Traditionally we are taught that an off-dry white is an excellent pairing to soothe the heat, but this isn’t always the right call. I went to KOL and Gunpowder to find out how to best pair wine and spice.
Pairing wine with spicy Mexican food at KOL
KOL, the UK’s only Michelin starred Mexican restaurant, is doing things differently. The innovative food is described as having a ‘Mexican soul with British ingredients’, so you won’t find anything that doesn’t grow in the UK and the spice is earthy, smoky and balanced. Sommelier Josephine Appleyard explained that spice doesn’t always require the elevated sugar of off-dry wines and instead recommends aromatic, high acidity wines with fruit and minerality. An impressive long-aged grower champagne is a surprisingly excellent match with a rich short-rib quesadilla coated in slivers of black truffle, eaten with your hands, off the bone.
A delicate, fine-boned red trousseau from Jura cut through and caressed a flavourful wagyu huarache. Jura is Appleyard’s personal choice to pair with Mexican spice. “Juras are savoury, with high acidity, fruitiness and they have a distinctiveness that has led to a cult following,” she says.
The wine list showcases the lesser-known parts of the old world: especially the food-friendly wines from Eastern Europe. There’s an extensive Riesling collection and some great picks from small, well-respected producers. Their mark ups are kept low, too.
As well as wine pairings there are ‘mezcal’ and ‘soft’ options too. Start with an excellent clear Mezcal margarita and try a couple of non-alcoholic in-house fermented beverages.
Pairing wine with spicy Bengali food at Gunpowder
Unlike the fresh chillies of Mexico, Indian cuisine often has spice cooked into the food resulting in a deep, long-lasting heat. The perfume of incense and spice inside sleek, dark-wooded Gunpowder Soho took me straight back to the restaurants of India. Their menu specialises in Bengali cooking with European influences. Spicy venison and vermicelli doughnuts, kashmiri lamb chops with a side of thick green sauce and aromatic saffron and jeera pulao.
Western wisdom would never suggest red wine as the tannins inflame a curry’s heat but that is exactly why Indians would select one. As a friend once pointed out, “We cook like this deliberately, why would we then mask it?” Founder Harneet Baweja agrees. “I think everyone jumps in too quickly to pair food from India with sweet wines. I personally would never drink or recommend that. Dry whites and spicy deep reds are my preferred options”.
Traditional method sparkling wine is a simple solution for any spicy, dense or fatty dish. “The perfect pairing is Champagne or Crémant. The Domain Remy Gresser, Crémant d’Alsace, which has both Pinot Blanc and Riesling, goes with literally everything on the menu”, says Baweja. A glass of this with their devilish chilli cheese toastie can solve many woes.
So if in doubt when it comes to spice: bubbly makes an excellent choice!