Charcuterie, or cured meats, are very popular menu items in restaurants right now.  Also, because so many specialty markets carry very nice selections of salume or charcuterie, lots of people are enjoying them as a snack or appetizer when entertaining.  One wine myth is that young wines don’t have the character to go up against a mixture of strong flavors.  On a cured meat platter there is usually a wide variety of flavors and also the meats tend to be very rich because of all of the fat that is in them.  Some may have peppercorns or fennel and some may have very spicy elements.  It can be a challenge to find a wine to go with everything that is presented.  In this episode of Perfect Pairings, Aldo Sohm proves that, with the right choice of wines that are light, but with some acidity and delicate fruit, it is possible to pair something like charcuterie with great success.

Serves 4

The Halibut Casserole:

2 tablespoons canola oil

12 ounces morel mushrooms

2 tablespoons garlic butter

1 ½ cups chicken stock

4 (6-ounce) halibut fillets

fine sea salt and freshly ground white pepper

8 pieces of tomato confit (see basics)

1 tablespoon chives

1.     Heat the canola oil in a cast iron casserole over medium heat and add mushrooms and garlic butter.  Season with salt and pepper and cook the morels until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add chicken stock, and bring to a boil and reduce to 1 cup. 

2.     Generously season the halibut on all sides with salt and white pepper and add seasoned halibut to the casserole.  Cover the casserole, lower the heat to medium low and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, until a metal skewer can be easily inserted into the fish and, when left in for 5 seconds, feels just warm when touched to the lip. 

3.     To serve:  place the fish in the center of a bowl.  Carefully spoon the mushrooms and sauce around the fish.  Top the fish with chives and serve immediately.

Perhaps one of the most common wine “rules” is “always pair white wine with fish.” During a visit to the Italian seaside town of Livorno for my show on PBS, Avec Eric, I ate the area’s classic fisherman’s stew called “cacciuco,” which is a seafood stew made with a red wine sauce.  While the white wine that I drank with the stew was nice, I started wondering about which red wines I might choose to drink with a fish dish that has a rich sauce.  Back in New York, Aldo and I did some tasting with a halibut in morel sauce paired with two different pinot noir wines.  The results are delicious and interesting and made me excited to do some more exploration in dispelling some of the “wine rules” that are so common.

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