Whisky And Italian/Spicy Foods

[Deactivated Member]

I noted elsewhere that I rarely drink whisky after eating Italian food, or spicy foods like Mexican. (Don't understand why all you Brits are so crazy for curry, but that's another topic.) A two-fold question:

1) Are there particular whiskies that you would drink following such foods?

2) Are there other foods you feel just don't go with whisky?

[Lord_Pfaffin]

This Caol Ila CS that i am sippin here. No matter how much garlic or curry that precedes, each sip will set off a licorice ashy bonfire on the tip of your toungue and underneath a pleasant smokey maltiness, tingles on the roof of the mouth and a super finnish that will last for hours.
Had halepeno-garlic wings with blue cheese dip for lunch followed by C.I. CS. I just brought it home and couldn't resist a wee taste. Before dinner six hours later there was still a hint of the finnish.

[Mr Fjeld]

Nr 1:
As long as the sauce isn't a tomato sauce or made of cream and Gorgonzola-like cheeses I wouldn't hesitate drinking whisky afterwards.
Nr 2:
Garlic soup, strong spice- or herbal meals, sweet'n sour chineese, and perhaps food with a lot of cream that "imprignates" the mouth. Just a few suggestions, but not necessarily correct?

Skål!
Christian

[Deactivated Member]

Tomato sauce is precisely what I mean.

And it's all correct, if you say so!

[Lord_Pfaffin]

My favorite Italian restaurant makes this homemade style mango tartuffo and with a double expresso guaranteed to cleanse your palate, then anything goes. I guess the icecream counters the tomato acidity and the expresso cleans-up and jump-starts.
Curry is another beast intirely and requires PepcidAC or Maalox.
Heartburn and whisky DO NOT mix.
With a belly-full of any food, if i'm going to go ahead and pour some whisky ontop of it i'm most always going to concider some kind of a buffer depending on the situation. Most times i find a solution.

[Deactivated Member]

Most times I'm very happy to pour a dram over a full belly (or should I say "into"), with the above noted exceptions. It's the empty belly that causes trouble.

[Mr Fjeld]

Well that reminds me of "le trou Normand"! When the tummy is stuffed with food a Calvados down the hatch does wonders for making room for more food! And considering the norman cuisine that's not a bad thing!

Skål!
Christian

[bamber]

Personally I can't drink whisky with food, except maybe bourbon and some chocoalate dessert. Why do we Brits love curry so much - that's easy:

It's the best tasting food in the world. As Paul would say - I'm taking that as a fact

[Deactivated Member]

Bamber, I may not agree with you, but you're not wrong!

Christian, you make me pine for Normandy again. If you keep it up, I'll never get back to Bergen! It's funny how calvados makes the stomach dilate, producing a most satisfying belch. Whisky has the same effect, but much less pronounced, I think. (Maybe "pronounced" is not the proper word to describe a belch!)

[Mr Fjeld]

I've noticed your sweet spot for places whith a "norwegian influence". The british isles, Iceland, Shetland, north of France (Normandy) are all places where the norwegian vikings settled down and had a say in things. It's an amusing fact that those places also happen to be where the cuisine is based on butter rather than oil - a fact that also benefits spirits as "mouthcleaners" . So, maybe you will come back to Bergen because it could be the starting point in a historic and culinary pilgrimmage where you start with "Smalahove" (smoked/charred lambshead) and Akevitt, in France you can enjoy Calvados, in England you can have something with ale or Gin (is the latter alternative at all possible?) , in Scotland Ireland and Shetland you can have whisky but I must confess that when you reach the republic of Iceland I don't know what it'll be other than ale/beer?
Anyway, there should be enough archeology, butter-based cuisine and spirit and history to have a perfectly enjoyable time!
You can even go to Sicilly or Istanbul where Sigurd Jorsalfar - whom later became a norwegian king - together with his men was the emperor's guard.

Good enough idea to tempt you back Mr T?

Skål!
Christian

[Deactivated Member]

I hadn't quite thought of it that way, but I have sort of classified my travels as being within what can be called the North Atlantic Arc. And all roads do seem to lead back to Norway, don't they? I've sometimes wondered whether there is a genetic component to all this--the Scot in me appreciates whisky, the Yorkshireman loves a good bitter. No doubt that there is some Nordic heritage mixed in there back in the mists of time, which might explain why I enjoy listening to Annbjorg Lien. My personal connections to Quebec, Normandy, and Brittany, however, are historical rather than genetic. Anyway, I definitely have more of an affinity for the northern territories, so perhaps I can be considered an honorary Norseman.

Icelanders are essentially Old Norwegians, I suppose, and they do have brennivin, an aquavit- or schnapps-like drink. I don't know if they actually make it there, though. And I've never tried it.

[bernstein]

...in Scotland Ireland and Shetland you can have whisky but I must confess that when you reach the republic of Iceland I don't know what it'll be other than ale/beer?

Just read that William Grant & Sons will build a distillery in Iceland to produce a new Vodka brand "Reyka Vodka".

[Mr Fjeld]

There's Tattieheids alternative Bernie!

Using the country's clean natural resources, the distillery will produce a new vodka brand, Reyka Vodka.

I guess they are using the concepts like "clean/purity etc" for all it's worth. It reminds me of one of the french-norwegian Cognac families which make a point of using "icewater" from Spitsbergen to dilute its cognac ...

I guess the alcohol industry is obsessed by purity.

Skål!
Christian

[Deactivated Member]

The alcohol industry is obsessed with image.

If I'm not mistaken, "Reyka" means "smoke" or similar--Reykjavik means Smoky Bay. I wonder if it's a reference to the taste. Well, no matter to me; I'm not interested in vodka!

As for Icelandic purity, I remember waiting on the runway at Keflavik while crateloads of Icelandic water were loaded in the plane's cargo hold, bound for the US of A. I found it amusing, as bottled water was generally unavailable anywhere in Iceland (at the time; that seems to have changed)--the stuff out of the tap was as clean-tasting as any bottled water. At least, the cold water is; the hot water smells like rotten eggs. But hey, showering in it is good for your sulphur steam.

Oh, bad Mr Tattie Heid!

I think I'll do a little reseach to see what I can find out about brennivin.

[Aidan]

I enjoy whiskey with foods as it's not as filling as beer or wine. I'm not a big wine fany anyway, apart from a few reds, like the Shiraz.

Nor am I the biggest Bushmills fan, although I do like it, but it is great with food.

[bernstein]

I think I'll do a little reseach to see what I can find out about brennivin.

Be careful, its local name is svarti daudi or 'black death'.

[Aidan]

Oops, that should be fan, and not fany...

[Badmonkey]

I approach whisky and spicy food the way I do other drinks and spicy food. More often than not, I go for contrast rather than complement and follow-up spicy fare with whisky with a slightly sweet finish. Yoichi 10 year and Glenmorangie Port Wood finish both work well for me on that front. I also tried dal tarka with Knockando recently and enjoyed it very much.

I'd be curious to know how members of the forum match malts with desserts.

[Deactivated Member]

Malt is dessert, as far as I'm concerned! Throw in a good pint, while you're at it. I appreciate the contrasting idea; certainly a light and crisp beer works with spicy foods. I'm just not sure that there is any whisky that I would think of as being light and crisp, or in some other way sufficiently contrasting to spicy food. But going towards the sweet end is an interesting idea, and I'll keep it in mind.

[Badmonkey]

Well put, Mr. Tattiehead.

[Mr Fjeld]

Last Saturday evening I enjoyed quite a few smokey Islay whiskies with a lovely blue cheese (Ingers Blå/Ingers Blue) from the "Blind cow cheese company" - http://www.theblindcow.com/ .
Anyway, the combination proved to be a success.

Skål!
Christian

[Di Blasi]

So, is this thread meant to say Italian food and spicy food are categorized together?? Or that Italian food is spicy?? I just read in issue 58 spicy food with smokey whiskies are best! As Lord_Pfaffin mentioned regarding the Caol Ila...
"This Caol Ila CS that i am sippin here. No matter how much garlic or curry that precedes, each sip will set off a licorice ashy bonfire on the tip of your toungue and underneath a pleasant smokey maltiness, tingles on the roof of the mouth and a super finnish that will last for hours.
Had halepeno-garlic wings with blue cheese dip for lunch followed by C.I. CS. I just brought it home and couldn't resist a wee taste. Before dinner six hours later there was still a hint of the finnish."

The blue cheese and smokey whiskies sound best! A nice Gorgonzola, there's the Italian!

[Deactivated Member]

So, is this thread meant to say Italian food and spicy food are categorized together?? Or that Italian food is spicy??

No, just that I find pairing whisky with either to be problematic. "Pairing" isn't the right word...I can't find a whisky I like after eating either spicy foods or tomato sauce. I'm not at all convinced that peaty ones will work, but I'l give it a try at some point.

[Badmonkey]

Gorgonzola and mushroom risotto with grilled snapper.

I'd probably go for something that has a hint of citrus in the background. Of what is in my cabinet, the Glenfiddich 15 would probably work.

[Reggaeblues]

Maybe they know something I don't but an excellent local Indian which i call "The Moghul Dysentery" made the gaffe of serving me a Laphroig with ice. I told 'em i didn't WANT ice, so they removed it and returned with the watery "brew formerly known as Laphroaig"!!

I got what I wanted in the end, but, I wonder on reflection if it WOULD have tasted better diluted in the context of a pukka Indian meal??

In general I have to cleanse my palette of spicy, peppery flavours before I can enjoy a malt...

[Di Blasi]

Next time I eat spicy I'll for sure have to try some heavy duty smoke! I wonder if that really works as well as I've read??

[Reggaeblues]

After some heavy duty smoke I'll eat ANYTHING!!

It's called "the munchies."