WTN: ham &Silvaner, pasta w/Lambrusco, clam pie & orange wine

Dale, I just recently picked up my first "serious" Lambrusco (also a Grasparossa though producer's name is different IIRC). What is a good food pairing for such wines?

Mark Lipton

Here I am ;) Great pairings are charcuterie, true, and since this wine is acidic, sparkling and tannic at one time, the fattier cold-cuts are the best: pancetta (unsmoked dry aged bacon), guanciale (pork-cheek pancetta) and salami. The usual pairing in the area of Grasparossa is charcuterie and "crescentine", a simple flour + water + salt dough which gets fried in pigs's lard and which usually accompanies charcuterie and "battuto di lardo" (minced aged lard). They look like this:

Another usual pairing is with charcuterie and "tigelle", more bread like and bakled instead of fried, used almost in the same way as crescentine but obviously less fat, so they match well with the fattier charcuterie:

These two are usually served as an entree before going on with first and second courses. The usual pairing with Grasparossa are "tortelli verdi", a stuffed egg-dough filled with a bery enriched spinach/beet mix, with or without ricotta. They are served with melted butter, usually flavored with some sage, and a good sprinkling of grated parmigiano reggiano cheese:

They also do very well with lasagne bolognese and passatelli in a rich cured-chicken broth as with almost any fatty first course like eggnoodles with ragu' bolognese, gramigna con salsiccia, etc A picture of "Gramigna con salsiccia" (the pasta format is named after the infesting grass):

Grasparossa matches perfectly with the typical second courses of the area, I could make a very long list but let's name the best in the pairing: cotechino, zampone, any kind of fried meatballs, pork sausages (grilled or boiled in wine or baked wiah a reduction of the same wine), pork chops... Think hearthy, rich and fatty dishes, but with not too much spices in them, and you'll find Grasparossa a very good pairing. The local kitchen here in Emilia ROmagna tends to use few spices, in particular white and black ground pepper, or bland/sweet spices such as the nutmeg, always present in lasagne and many baked pasta first courses.

Thanks a lot, Dale and Vilco! I get the idea now. Vilco, just reading some of your descriptions inspired me, so maybe I'll wait until after I submit this proposal that's consuming my time right now and then make a few of those dishes.

Mark Lipton