Savoury Pastries Meet Festive Cocktails: 5 Pairing Tips For The Holiday Season
Baked to perfection, buttery and flaky on the outside and soft and cheesy on the inside- savoury pastries are great cocktail pairings. These are mostly made with puff pastry dough, seasoned stuffings including choice of protein, vegetables, and greens with occasional toppings of cheese and herbs.
Savoury pastries can be perfectly paired with festive cocktails to add a distinct flavour to the cocktail menu. Sweet pastries over sweet dessert cocktails, usually served during the holiday season, can fade in taste. On the other hand, a contrast with savoury pastries can bring out the flavour of festive cocktails with a more distinct character and enhanced flavour profile.
Eggnog, cranberry martini cocktails, gingerbread old fashioned cocktails, candy cane cocktails, negroni cocktails, and fruit cocktails are some of the popular seasonal cocktail choices during winter that can pair well with a selection of savoury pastries.
5 Pairing Tips For Savoury Pastries And Festive Cocktails
Pairing Bitter Cocktails With Savoury Pastry
Oftentimes, bitter flavours do not go well with sweet flavours because of extreme contrast. In such cases, bitter flavours are usually paired with savoury side dishes to bring out the bitterness on a more complex and balanced level. For example, a fruit cocktail with salted palmiers pastry curves a well-balanced flavour profile supporting bitter and savoury characteristics. However, if the same cocktail is paired with something sweet, the citrusy after-taste would make the pairing oversaturated with bitterness.
Creating Double Layers Of Umami
The afterburn of consuming any spice with a salty characteristic is known as the flavour of umami. Umami flavour is often denoted as the fifth taste, aside from sweet, salty, bitter, and sour; bringing depth and richness to cocktails and pastries. Spicy and savoury pastries are an ideal match to counterbalance the umami taste of cocktails from festive drinks. For instance, spiced rum punch with mushroom arancini creates a mutual characteristic of rich umami, feeding in the undertones of spice and layered sweetness, complementing both. The pastries with buttery or flaky texture, which helps with the spice, creating a more vivid taste palette.
Pairing Up Contrasting Textures
Aside from flavour profile and characteristics, the texture is also something one should look for when selecting pastries. Flaky savoury pastries go well with rich cocktails, complimenting the acidic flavours with melt-in-mouth characteristics. On the other hand, richer pastries can go well with flavour profiles of lighter cocktails, complementing the added layers of complexity. A simple pairing of a French 75 cocktail with a cheese-filled croissant can neutralize and balance the rich flavour profiles while elevating the overall taste.
Pairing Up Complementary Herbal Aroma
The essence of a cocktail is also pivotal when selecting savoury pastry pairings for the cocktail menu. The aroma can smoothen the flavour profiles, bringing out undertones with added character. Use herb-infused pastries to add aroma in the cocktails for a new twist. For instance, adding cumin puff pastry stuffed with potato filling and paneer enhances the flavours of the simple gin and tonic with thyme garnish.
Buttery Pastry Pairings Balances Sharp Citrus Notes
The acidic texture in cocktails provides a sharp contrast to rich and buttery pastries. Pairing citrusy cocktails with savoury pastry that is rich in butter characteristics can be a good choice to enhance the overall taste. Salty cheese-filled donuts can pair beautifully with festive cocktails like daiquiri and whisky sour.
Savoury pastries with contrasting flavour profiles, may add character to festive cocktails and improve the complex flavour profiles. Known for its highly adaptable and versatile characters- savoury pastry is also ideal for cocktail enthusiasts to blend the flavours of the cocktail better with homemade baking.
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