Can you think of poultry/meats that pair well with Port?

[Roy Hersh]

I know lots of people who like steak and Port pairings, but what about other meats.

From game birds to lamb ... what are you favorite poultry pairings and meats that mix well with the various styles of Port?

[Glenn E.]

Lombo Assado goes great with Port!

(Literally just roast loin, but usually means roast pork loin unless otherwise specified..)

[Frederick Blais]

I'll try to do it again and get a photo but I did an adaptation of cordon bleu chicken with Tawny port as the base for the bouillon. I did add fresh herbs, sliced celeri roots, a mix of bread crumbles/chease and herbs, some old parmesan finely sliced on top of it. Add some olive oil to get the celeri roots parts grilled like potatoes. Close your recipient, put in the oven. Delicious!

[Moses Botbol]

Turkey or gamey birds, and pork are the most obvious choices. Honestly, I do not drink port with meat or poultry that often. LBV's or Ruby would be my pick; something more "wine" like that is not such an event port. Having some acid in whichever port one picks is important. As for a sauce, any meat from beef, lamb, horse, veal...

I was watching a show that debunked that alcohol burns off when cooking. The first example was a port reduction sauce. Even with flambé, 50% of the alcohol remained. Just something to keep in mind… Now I know why everyone is half drunk after my Choucroute.

[Glenn E.]

I was watching a show that debunked that alcohol burns off when cooking. The first example was a port reduction sauce. Even with flambé, 50% of the alcohol remained. Just something to keep in mind…

Food Detectives is normally a pretty good show, but that particular episode was horrible. They claim to investigate myths about food using real science, but that time it was only real bad science. I started out as a chemist in college before switching majors, and that whole episode made me cringe.

First, they never actually measured the remaining alcohol. They just looked at the liquid and concluded that "half the liquid is left, so half the alcohol must be left too!" Bunk. Alcohol has a lower density, lower evaporation point, and lower boiling point than water. That's how distillation works. If you boil a reduction sauce at high temperature so that you have a frenetic roiling boil, then yes both water and alcohol will boil off (though the alcohol will boil off slightly faster). But if you simmer the sauce - which is how you make a reduction - then you're boiling off more significantly more alcohol than water.

Second, water doesn't burn. :wall: When you flambé the only thing you're losing is the alcohol. Some alcohol will be left behind because a water/ethanol mixture won't burn below a certain proof (which varies with the temperature of the mixture), but their 50% number was nothing more than a dart thrown at a spreadsheet because they didn't actually measure the alcohol content of the remaining mixture. As it turns out, 50% is probably close to the maximum amount of alcohol that could possibly be left. A higher mixture temperature means that more alcohol will burn off, so while a room temperature glass of vodka may only burn down to 90-100 proof (45-50% alcohol), Port (20%) will burn quite nicely if you splash it in a hot pan near an open flame. You know, like when you're doing a flambé.

What's unfortunate is that part of their conclusion was correct - some alcohol remains behind when you cook with it - but their "science" was so screwed up that you really can't believe any of their numbers. They tried to imply that you'd be ingesting several shots of liquor if you consume the meal they used as a test. My bet is that the actual number would be no more than a small fraction of a shot.

[Eric Ifune]

I would also guess that a slow simmer will remove even more alcohol since it's over a much longer period of time.

[Roy Hersh]

Thanks for some suggestions of meats/poultry to try with Port. I hope to see a few more this week.

I also don't buy the 50% number of alcohol left after cooking with Port (flambe or otherwise). And pulling numbers out of the air seems like nonsense if not measuring the alcohol content after it was cooked.

[oscarquevedo]

I like to pair beef with Port, accompanied by a pepper sauce. It pairs pretty well with a good ruby, such as a LBV. White meats are more difficult to pair with Ports, as they are more smooth, not so tasty and intense. But I would try something new if a good suggestion arises

[Moses Botbol]

White meats are more difficult to pair with Ports, as they are more smooth, not so tasty and intense. But I would try something new if a good suggestion arises

Hmmm. Pink port with soda?

[oscarquevedo]

I see a big fun of Rose Port here

Barbecued poultry would work?

[Andy Velebil]

White meats are more difficult to pair with Ports, as they are more smooth, not so tasty and intense. But I would try something new if a good suggestion arises

Hmmm. Pink port with soda?

Don't laugh, this is on my list of experiments to try with a Quevedo Rose Port recently acquired on my trip (I hope you don't mind Oscar). My brother and his fiance come down later this week and since it's hot here, I wanted them to try this Rose blind on it's own, then as a Port Tonic, and then with Soda (and also a Port Tonic with regular dry white port too). I know they love Rose dry wines, and since my brother used to work at a Cali winery, I'm very curious to see how they like them.

Any rec's on how to serve them? What part Rose, what part soda, etc? Or do I make them just like a regular Port Tonic, about 50/50 mix? Should I add any garnishes, like mint, lemon, etc??

[oscarquevedo]

Any rec's on how to serve them? What part Rose, what part soda, etc? Or do I make them just like a regular Port Tonic, about 50/50 mix? Should I add any garnishes, like mint, lemon, etc??

Some people that enjoy tonic cocktails say rose Port with tonic is very tasty, but I'm not a fan of tonic. A couple of friends drink it with orange juice - I just don't like it. I once tried with a slice of lemon but didn't like either, it masks the fruity and floral taste of the Rose. I think mint works well.
I really love Rose Port on the rocks, that's how I prefer to serve it.

[Andy Velebil]

it masks the fruity and floral taste of the Rose

That is the one thing I was worried about. I figured tonic would be the best as it doesn't have much of a flavor itself and would still allow some of that fruit to show. Either way, it should be fun to try....anything that gets people to start drinking Port is a good thing in my eyes.

[Moses Botbol]

Thought the quinine in tonic may be too much, where seltzer/soda is clean tasting.

[Roy Hersh]

Agree with seltzer water (soda) instead of Tonic being less invasive from a flavor standpoint.


The 3 finest pairings I've ever had with Port were:

Grilled Quail with a lingonberry sauce served with an LBV, a roast Pheasant with a 20 year old Tawny Port, and a spit roasted leg of Lamb with a rather young and unctuous Vintage Port.

[Thomas Lundh]

For the love of port, and for my mission to spread the love of port to much more people... Me and my girlfriend is planning to do a little test tomorrow.
We will make a menu (starter, main dish, and dessert), all accompanied by port.
We have invited some friends over to be the judges. I must say that we have not tried making a menu like this before, so I don't know if it's gonna be a success.

As a welcoming aperitif we're gonna have a Quevedo Rosé port, mixed with soda. We gonna use this bottle for the starter, so why not use it for the welcoming drink as well?

I have only tasted the Rosé port once before (and never with soda). But it got me thinking. If i marinated some tiger prawns, with lots of fresh chili, garlic, coriander, and ginger. And fried/grilled the prawns.
Serve the prawns with homemade bread and a glass of the Quevedo Rosé port.
I don't know if this is gonna work, but my idea is that the freshness of the bottle will go well together with the spices and the freshness of prawns.

The main plate should be pork tenderloin, with a port creme.
The port creme is gonna be made with, Jerusalem artichoke, oyster mushroom, sun-dried apricots, baby spinach and of cause port. I'm not quiet sure which port I should put in the creme. I guess it gonna be a white port or an LBV that could highlight the apricots.
I'm not convinced which port i would drink to this dish either, but it's definitely gonna be a tawney of some kind, or a young colheita. I wound not have something heavy as a LBV or a Ruby to the light meat.

For dessert we will make a really heavy chocolate cake. Cook blackberry with almonds and a young LBV.
Serve the blackberry creme on top of the chocolate cake and a nice glass of Burmester colheita 1986 on the side.

I'm pretty excited of the outcome of this dinner, but we love to experiment, so why not give it a go?

If' you have any comments on which ports to use with what, i would love to hear it.

[Moses Botbol]

If' you have any comments on which ports to use with what, i would love to hear it.

That sounds like some meal!

I would go with LBV over white port with pork. Consider your most acidic port for the meat, perhaps one that is not overly sweet. Some tawnys may work, but I would keep whatever you pick on the simpler side to not compete with the food.

[Andy Velebil]

Thomas,

Sounds like a fun dinner, what time does it start and can I come

I like the idea of sticking to tawny's or Colheita's to pair with the meat and dessert. IMO a VP with chocolate cake just doesn't work, but that Burmester should work just fine.

Gotta agree with Moses on skipping the White Port for the pork dish, I'd use an LBV or Ruby Port in the creme sauce.

Please do let us know how this goes after the dinner.

[Thomas Lundh]

Thanks for the comments Moses and Andy
Yeah, you will be more that welcome to join the dinner. Just let me know next time you are in Copenhagen we can make a new event like this
Okay i'm gonna go for the LBV in the creme sauce. The thing was that I have never tried to make anything with a white port, so i thing it could be interesting to try at a certain time.

I agree with the VP. I would not pair that with chocolate cake. actually i prefer drinking VP solo, without anything. The exception is a very young VP with lots of tannins, acidity and power. I thing that it could pair well with for instance a pepper steak.

[Eric Menchen]

Sounds excellent. I'm checking for flights to Denmark now

I guess I'm in the minority, but I think some VPs can go just fine with a heavy chocolate dessert.