Pairing Alcohol With Spicy Food? Here Are Some Essential Things To Know
Many times, a classic whisky sour is paired with a well-cooked, charred tandoori chicken and a fresh margarita often goes well with spicy prawn tacos. Spicy foods and spirits are quite a favoured pairing among gastronomes because of the pronounced flavours that emerge out of this combination. However, pairing spicy foods with liquors is quite a broad culinary and mixology spectrum. From which spirit to pair with what kind of cuisine to which cocktails go well with certain dishes and which simply never do – this phenomenon requires a little bit of probing.
Questions abound around how to exactly fashion this coupling of alcohol with spicy food and here is a breakdown of some of these doubts which arise frequently:
What are a couple of culinary and mixology aspects to keep in mind while crafting spirit and spicy food pairings?
One of the first things to keep in mind is that spicy foods work really well with citrusy cocktails. So, go for drinks which contain acidic, citrus-infused flourishes such as orange juice, lime zest or even a fizzy lemon-lime soda.
The second interesting element is to incorporate lots of fresh herbal elements like mint or basil and coolers like cucumbers and coconut water in these cocktails. These ingredients taper down some of the robust, spicy notes in the dishes to make the whole pairing more balanced.
Can spicy foods go well with smoky spirits?
Absolutely. In fact, the flavours of a charred barbecued chicken or a spicy fish curry tend to go really well with the similarly earthy and smoky flavours of a good quality peaty whisky. Such a spirit can either be served on the rocks or it can be used to prepare simple highballs whose textural fizz balances out the spiciness in the culinary recipes.
Why does spicy food go well with gin-based cocktails?
It’s simple really. The botanical elements in gin coupled with ingredients such as tonic water or sparkling water used to prepare gin-based cocktails, contain certain fresh and light flavour notes which counteract the robust effects of spicy foods. That’s why a cucumber gin and tonic or a negroni remain among the classic cocktails that can be served with fried spicy snacks or bar bites which contain a hint of chilli.
Also Read: Spicy Korean Food And Gin: 5 Pairings With Classic Gin Cocktails
Which are some of the spicy culinary preparations that go well with rum?
Rum is known for its pronounced, caramelised flavours which seep into the cocktails in which it is added. Coupled with the Caribbean, coastal flair inherent to the spirit, it becomes an interesting drink to pair with spicy Goan curries, Kerala pepper fry chicken and Malabar-style biryani which echo its smoky, rich, tropical notes.
Which are some of the other spirits that accentuate the spicy flavours in culinary preparations?
Spirits with clear profiles such as vodka are among the drinks that can make the spicy flavours in a culinary spread more pronounced. This is because vodka has a very starkly clear taste which can embody a lot of different flavours. The spiciness in dishes like a Goan fish curry or a rogan josh then blend with vodka-infused cocktails to lend them a bit of a flavour pop.
Such is the case with a citrusy tequila too, and adding citruses to the spirit while blending cocktails like margaritas or tequila sours can bring forth just the right kind of balance between the spicy dishes and the flavourful cocktails.
So, what is the best way to pair spirits with spicy foods?
As ever, the trick is balance. Certain spirits with too smoky a flavour note or too clear a profile make the spiciness in the culinary preparations appear more pronounced. The key to a good spicy food and liquor pairing is then to pick a spirit which offers a bright contrast with spiced culinary preparations such as a classic gin and tonic or a complementary rich flavour like a citrusy whisky sour.
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