What’s your weirdest comfort meal? You know – the sort of meal you would never dare make for someone else, but which to you verges on ambrosial. Often, these strange Frankenfoods are born out of convenience or sheer happenstance – an evening where bad weather makes a foray to the supermarket an unappealing choice, forcing you to be inventive with store cupboard essentials and the dregs of a near-empty fridge. One of the joys of living alone, as I do, is the quiet thrill of whipping up a combo that would make others wrinkle their noses, free from the judgment of prying eyes.
A personal favourite of mine, discovered after a night out some years ago when I arrived home absolutely ravenous: heavily buttered white toast, topped with hummus and copious amounts of Cholula hot sauce. The combo was so delicious I replicated it while sober many times after, once even persuading a friend to partake – “tastier than I expected” came the verdict. In my student days I was partial to crumpets sprinkled with generous amounts of feta cheese, and then – the bit that always confused my housemates – sliced frankfurters on top, the whole shebang zapped in the microwave to melt the cheese.
You can apply the same logic to your wine pairings, although with less controversial food choices. Red wine is usually paired with red meat and white wine with fish or seafood – sometimes reversing the conventional wisdom can work in your favour. McGuigan’s Black Label range is versatile enough that it works with everything – try pairing the Black Label Sauvignon Blanc with a steak, or a Black Label Red with a seafood stew, for instance.
A quick survey of my friends reveals that I am not alone: a few of the more bizarre options include cheesy scrambled eggs made with peanut butter; mashed potato – “preferably the awful instant stuff” – with gravy, and then salt and vinegar crisps for dipping; spaghetti with chorizo and ketchup; white rice with baked beans mixed in … the list goes on. All are offered up with a slight sense of shame and claims that they have long stopped eating them.
And yet I feel oddly comforted to hear about others’ favourite freaky food combos – sometimes the most sublime delights are found in the unexpected, things that “shouldn’t” go together but somehow do … just because.
McGuigan Wines are available in most UK supermarkets. For more information, please go to mcguiganwines.co.uk
