Cider and food
CIDER AND FOOD
How do you match Norwegian cider with food?
Vinmonopolet made an excellent list worth checking out, when choosing cider for different kind of food:
The cider rules
Dry and fruity ciders: Dry cider with fruitiness characterized by fresh, ripe apples, herbs and flowers are very useful as an aperitif and for most dishes.
Cider with sweetness to sweet food and strong food. A little sweetness in the cider gives a cooling break to strong food.
For sweet desserts and cakes fits a cider with sweetness.
Dry, complex cider for food with a storage character: Complex ciders are often not very reminiscent of fresh apples, but have aromas from yeast and bacteria. They are suitable for stored foods, such as cheese and ham.
Sour cider for fatty or heavy foods: Sour ciders can suit fatty and powerful dishes. Or quite the opposite - to emphasize the freshness of the dish.
Flavored cider: Some cider manufacturers add aromas such as hops, fruit, malt, smoke or spices. Think similar aromas or exciting contrast when you connect such cider to food.
Cured meats are an obvious choice for cider. In northern Spain, there are hams and sausages on every street corner. Choose a fruity cider from Hardanger if you bring out the cured meats.
As an aperitif, you can use cider in the same way as prosecco, cava, champagne or other sparkling wine.
Desserts can be matched with ciders that have a little sweetness. If you serve apple dessert, you know that cider will fit. Do not go for something that is too dry, but rather choose something with some sweetness and lots of fruitiness.
Seafood goes well with cider. I even used cider in some of the dishes I served below and it was a great success. When steaming mussels: Drop the white wine and use a dry cider instead. If you make a pork dish with apples, use cider in the sauce. Yes, I actually use cider when I make Christmas ribs, I do. Slightly good and slightly sweet cider in the baking tray add such a good taste to the power.
If you serve raw fish such as sashimi or sushi, you can also use cider. Feel free to choose a cider that is a little more mature. Look for ciders made from Summerred apples.
For cooked or baked fish with butter sauce, you may well have a cider with some freshness and acidity. (look for ciders made with Gravenstein apples)
Cider made on Aroma apples go for the most part.
In France, you drink dry apple cider (preferably barrel-aged) for the traditional pancakes made from buckwheat stuffed with cheese and ham and preferably an egg on top. Galettes as they are called, are really good cider foods, so think of pancakes when you want an obvious combination. Sweet and salty. But if you choose sweet pancakes, you can successfully choose a sweeter cider.