Dishing on Cider
Bushwhacker also incorporates ciders into its dishes. It uses cider for reductions, in house-made vinegars, salad dressings and infusions, and as a poaching liquid or dressing for fish, often in conjunction with different herbs.
Much like how you cook with wine, cider imparts its flavor on the food, explains chef Adam Beckor. Bushwhacker offers up Chorizo a la Sidra: the Spanish sausage with paprika, garlic and onion, pan-fried in cider, “preferably a Spanish cider, or a cider of Spanish Basque style,” Beckor says.
Spanish ciders—or sidras—are renowned for their distinctive tastes: acidic, complex, and musty like lambic beers. Beckor says these flavors are perfect for cooking the chorizo.
“Everybody knows that pork and apples are a strong bet,” he says. “It gives the dish a lightness, cutting through the fat of the pork. I serve the dish with a big piece of bread, because you’re going to want to mop it all up.”
What to pair with it? Pinkston recommends a glass of Never Give an Inch ($5 for a 16-oz. pour). Made by Cider Riot of Portland, it’s a tart, dry, backberry cider, Pinkston says, rich without being sweet. “The contrast between the chorizo and Never Give an Inch are really interesting.”
Finnriver Fire Barrel cider ($5 for a 12-oz. pour) is another match for the chorizo. This Washington State cider is sweet and dry, with a clean finish. Like chardonnay it fizzles over the tongue, Pinkston says. “It plays with the palate—the sweet and dry cider with the dry and spicy chorizo.”
Cider is also on the food menu at Capitol Cider. Chefs there use it in broths and the same ways you would cook with beer or wine, Harvey notes. Cider has similar sweetness and acids, but with a lower ABV, it does not flame out like wine.
Reed’s American Table in St. Louis carries a number of unique and food-friendly ciders, including Peckham’s Elderflower from New Zealand and Bonnydoon “Querry,” a Californian cider brewed with pear and quince.
Reed’s American Table in St. Louis boasts a novel-length menu that includes everything from beer, wine and absinthe to gourmet coffee and a handful of ciders.
“It’s still a small part of what we’re doing,” says advanced sommelier/beverage director Andrey Ivanov of cider. “It’s something we have to hand-sell.”
But after Reed’s employees open up a bottle of premium cider, and pour out a sample, customers are surprised at the taste and quickly become interested.
Orders typically come from two types of patrons, Ivanov explains: those who already enjoy cider, or wine drinkers who want to try something new. Not as many craft beer fans have crossed over into cider yet at Reed’s, he notes.
Among the bottle offerings is the sparkling Cidre Bouche ($11 for a 375-ml.), from Dupont in France, where the elevation is too high to grow grapes. Ivanov recommends matching this cider with Reed’s roasted pork belly with shaved brussels, shiitakes, leeks, carrot and maple-date jus ($12).
