Food and cider in combination

FOOD AND CIDER COMBINED

Flavours and preferences

The opinion that a type of food goes well with a certain type of drink sounds like pure preference. And of course, people can eat and drink exactly what they want, but there are some sensory and analytical considerations to take into account if you want some things to go extra well together.

The goal is to achieve a kind of division of attention in the mouth, if you will. That the food and cider are equals, and that they complement each other and work as a team.

The star of the show, not the side character

It is important to allow things to take up space. Imagine a cider farmer who has done everything in their power to make a perfect cider, only to have it dominated by a salty and rich blue cheese.

The fault does not lie in the aroma of this combination – because blue cheese usually works well with the aroma of apples. What is not right is the mouthfeel.

The cheese often has a fat percentage of 40 %, and combined with the complexity of the ripening and the treatment of the mould, there is so much flavour that everything else is overshadowed.

The cider suddenly becomes a side character – you might as well serve a bunch of grapes.

Aroma

In order to properly combine food and drink, you really only need to taste a little extra carefully while knowing what you are looking for.

'Tasting, paradoxically, begins with smelling. Aroma plays less of a role than mouthfeel and is often used as a guide to what sauces or sides can be added to the meal.

So, it is the nose that takes care of the aroma. It is not possible to sense aroma in the mouth. The tongue can only register sweetness, saltiness, acidity, bitterness and umami. When we "smell" something in the mouth, it is solely because the heat in the oral cavity evaporates the liquid, which in turn releases aromas that then rise up to the nose through the back of the mouth.

Taste and mouthfeel

In addition to sweetness, acidity and bitterness, something else happens in the mouth which is especially important for cider, namely body, fruit concentration and structure. These elements take up space in the mouth, and as we know, the more physical space the cider takes up, the more challenging food it will be able to go with.

Concentration is simply the level of concentrated fruit flavours present in the cider. It is obvious that body comes from both sweetness and concentrated fruit, but not everyone considers that alcohol also contributes to a full-bodied sensation in the mouth.

The combination of sweetness, concentration and alcohol is often referred to as "weight". "Structure" is something else, which we usually get from tannins, bubbles, and sometimes from acidity if it coincides with fruit concentration in the middle of the mouth.

The use of oak barrels and the addition of hops and whole berries add structure to the cider.

Acidity

After the oral cavity has perceived body and structure and the nose is satisfied that the aromas of the cider will suit the aromas of the food, the stage is set for the finish of the cider - namely acidity.

Acidity is very important to the vast majority of chefs. The reason for this is that they know acidity prolongs the taste, and that a long aftertaste intensifies the food and makes it more memorable.

The same applies to cider, and most cider manufacturers try to achieve a freshness in their ciders while keeping it balanced. No one wants to create a very acidic cider without much body and concentration.

As mentioned, we are almost always talking about a dry cider when we refer to a so-called spontaneously fermented cider, or perhaps an "additive-free" or "natural" cider.

“Natural cider”

As mentioned, it is almost always a dry cider we are talking about when we refer to a so-called spontaneously fermented cider, or perhaps an "additive-free", or "natural" cider.

A low level of residual sweetness, but with a well-developed middle due to its long time spent on the yeast residue is exactly what we are talking about when we taste Solhøi Cider’s “Flytende Solskinn” ("Liquid Sunshine").

Not too different from a Belgian sour beer, this type of dry and acidic mouthfeel goes well with a creamy dish or a typical stew with meat cooked in cider.

We have nevertheless chosen to go for an Asian dish and have made a homemade version of a classic and very flavourful pork in a sweet and sour sauce. The dish consists of a neck cutlet, with a sauce of tomatoes, honey, vinegar, ginger and chili.

Solhøi's “Flytende Solskinn”, despite being extremely dry, easily matches the intensity of the dish. In addition to tackling a bit of chili without seeds, it is also good at highlighting the characteristic taste of pork in the dish. The fruit has a nice presence in the mouthfeel and the acidity works well with the vinegar-based sauce.

Hardanger cider

It is easy to get caught up in traditional Norwegian food when talking about cider from Hardanger, but some of the best foods for this type of cider, in addition to fish and shellfish, are aromatic and flavourful and sweet dishes such as sushi and other Asian food.

The fact that “Sider frå Hardanger” (“Cider from Hardanger”) is a geographically protected term does not mean that all Hardanger producers create the same exact cider. Olav Bleie from Alde Sider is one of the people who in recent years have abandoned the "usual" style with 6 - 7.5% alcohol and around 20 grams of residual sweetness, and now makes a far drier style. We have tasted this one, but we also include Spilde Aroma 6.5% "Medium" cider, which is far sweeter.

With the Alde cider, we have a classic oven-baked cod with a butter and cream sauce similar to “Sandefjordsmør”, a classic Norwegian butter sauce. The structure of the dish is low, but the fat content is high. The Alde cider is known for its piercing intensity and is an elegant cider with high acidity that goes well with a very rich sauce. The combination with the creamy fish dish is classic and very tasty, and the cider also goes with any kind of seafood, except dishes with a lot of chili.

With Spilde, we have chosen a creamy poultry dish – simply a fricassee stew, for those who remember the 80s. Today's version is made with organic chicken breast cooked in a thick, creamy sauce, but the chicken could easily be replaced with grouse or other game birds.

"Spilde Aroma" has no problem dealing with the fattiness and richness of the dish. The sweetness of the chicken is enhanced by the sweetness of the cider. Pickled onion as a side, or in the dish itself, will enhance the acidity and help highlight the aftertaste of the cider.

Rosé cider

Nothing says “celebration” and “aperitif” like a rosé cider, so what food is more natural to combine it with than aperitifs?

Of course, canapés are a possibility if you get a visit from an ambassador or a prime minister, but the rosé cider, and preferably a sparkling one, also works with rich dishes such as hams, sausages and slightly more mature cheeses than the ones that go with the grocery store-strength cider.

Attåt's “Eple og bringebær” ("Apple and raspberry") has exactly the prescribed 20 grams of residual sweetness to tackle salty and flavourful foods. In addition, it has an extra acidity from raspberries, which helps break through the fattiness of our local “tind” sausages and the saltiness of the ham.

Experiments were also made with smoked and cured fish, but the richness is too much for this type of cider. If you want to try anyway, it is recommended to mix the fish with some sour cream or potatoes to soften the intensity of the dish.

Cider made with cider apples

Cider made with cider apples have far more tannins than cider with table apples. This requires food with more structure.

More structured food is usually meat. But with meat, and especially fried meat that is also served hot, there is also a need for a full-bodied drink – a fullness that is not quite achieved with 8% alcohol and 18 grams of sweetness.

Luckily, there are foods with structure that many ciders with less structure struggle to tackle, namely bread-based dishes. Bread has a high structure - which is surprising to many, until they experience how it takes up all the space on the plate.

Inspired by the English dish "ploughman's lunch", we have made a grilled slice of sourdough with bacon, sauerkraut, mayonnaise and mustard that perfectly matches the structure of "Sognefjord Still Matsider" from Balholm.

The structure of the cider ensures that the fruitiness stays long enough to compliment the traditionally smoked bacon. The sauerkraut and pickles create a great backdrop for the experience and help to reinforce the acidity of the cider.

Cider with additives – hops

Joar Aga made a great success and delighted many people when he launched the hoppy cider "Humlepung".

Whether you think cider can or should have additives or not, adding hops to cider definitely adds something to the mouthfeel.

Hops add structure in the mouth, which is only successful if there is enough fruit and concentration in the cider to balance it out. The main advantage of adding hops is that it helps support the fruitiness of the cider when eating foods with a lot of structure.

“Hakkasteik” is mixed, partially smoked meat with pearl barley that has a distinct structure in the mouth. It is usually served with potatoes and root vegetables. With this dish, we have also added some “vossakorv” (a traditional Norwegian sausage) and beetroot.

"Humlepung" is a large and masculine cider that takes up plenty of space. Its residual sweetness and texture come in handy when tasting the food. The danger with this type of traditional food is that there is often a lack of acidity. It is important to adjust this if you want to succeed with the cider.

You can serve pickled vegetables on the side, which is also something we know they do back at the Aga farm. Otherwise, you can do as we did, and serve it with a rich mustard. The mustard, with its sharpness and acidity really highlights the cider in the aftertaste and is an important factor in reaching the goal of balancing the combination.

Grocery store cider

One of the pioneers in Hardanger is Asbjørn Børsheim. With his cider from Ulvik, he often creates an elegant, acid-fresh and less sweet style.

The grocery store cider "Gravenstein Musserande" contains a bit of added CO2 and only 11 grams of residual sweetness, which creates a relatively dry and elegant cider that would preferably be placed miles away from the shelves with the ready-made sparkling cocktail drinks in the grocery store.

The low alcohol content limits the use of cider with food, which also applies to beer. But this does not mean that low-alcohol cider does not have gastronomic value.

A great aperitif for this cider is a mild cow's cheese, such as “Ung fanaost” ("Young Fana Cheese") that is less than a year old. A young and relatively low-fat cheese is delicious with grocery store cider, preferably served with a not too sweet apple chutney on top. Serve the cheese alone without crackers or bread.

Ice cider

The producer Edel has been alone in using ice cider technology in Norway, but in the last two years, they have got some competition from Olav Bleie at Alde Sider.

Cryo-extraction is a technique where the juice is concentrated by freezing it. The method opens up a wonderful world of complex and concentrated flavours that puts our best national desserts back on the map.

Ice cream with an element of acidic berries or fruit, whether fresh or cooked, works well with ice cider. The same applies to all types of cakes with fruits and berries, preferably with an element of cream.

Blue cheeses, crème brûlée or complex desserts with chocolate and nuts are more difficult combinations, but they may work if you adjust the amount and intensity. One tip is to mix butter-fried bread in with the nuts if you want something crispy to liven up the dessert. Another is to whisk some blue cheese together with a milder soft cheese if you want to go in that direction.

Edel ice cider, with its sweetness and incredible concentration, is lovely with ice cream and plums from Lutro Gard in Hardanger, for example.

Written by Ove Svendsen - Sommelier

Posted in Artikler