Kebabs & Wine - Friday Night's Sorted!

So, it’s Friday again. It’s raining again and that can only mean one of two things. Either you are going to sulk at home wishing the weather was better or you are going to defy Mother Nature and head out and do what most normal people do at the end of the week – drink copious amounts of alcohol to celebrate the end of yet another shitty week.

Other than the booze, there is one thing that makes Friday night Friday night – kebabs. No matter what you have been drinking, a cheeky kebab on the way home completes the night and even though you may wake up with chili on your breath and sauce all down your nice new Paul Sherman shirt, it was, as far as you remember, the best choice you made all night!

I then got to thinking, were anyone to actually eat a kebab sober, what wine would go nicely with it? No, I am not a complete ponce and no I did not eat the pictured kebab with either of the wines in the two photos. As much as the Penfold’s Bin 60A 1962 is one truly remarkable wine, I would not pair this with a kebab, nor the Le Tache either – but visually, it looks pretty cool!

Kebabs are, essentially, a Middle Eastern dish that comprise of primarily meat and bread with a few veggies (or salad) and although the one’s we buy here don’t truly resemble the kebabs of the Middle East or Turkey, they still taste good and do the job at the end of the night. Legend has it that the kebab was invented by Persian soldiers who used their swords to grill meat over open flamed fires.

Anyway, back to wine! What would go well with a kebab and is there a universal wine that can pair with it? Personally, I doubt it as everyone likes their kebab in different styles. There’s the plain boring donner kebab but still one has a choice of how spicy they like it, same is true for the lamb and chicken kebab; better meat, but again, a choice of level of spice is what determines your own style of kebab. Then there’s the posh kebab – the chicken tikka kebab, one that with too much chili sauce renders the chargrilled chicken tikka tasteless and all you get is chili.

Personally, I am a lamb kebab guy and I like to think that a good pairing would be a brash and boisterous Barossa Valley Shiraz. It has the weight and the subtle pepperiness that can match the lamb and all its trimmings. As I am not really into Chili sauce, this pairing may well work but with the extra kick of chili, it would have to be a white wine. In my case, I’d go for a Chenin Blanc or Viogner, preferably from California, but also a nice weighty Aussie Chardonnay would work and if it’s seriously spicy, go with a Kiwi Sauvignon Blanc, something you can quaff easily and takes away the pain from the chili.

Chicken kebabs are most likely to want a white wine to go with them and, again, according to the level of spice you like, would demand different weights of wine. A normal, boring chicken kebab would go nicely with an Italian Trebbiano or Verdicchio, something crisp and acidic that would highlight the flavour of the kebab.

For those that like their Chicken Tikka kebabs, then only the best will do and I think a nice Pinot Noir would do the job. I am not advocating Romanee Conti but if you can afford it, do it! I was thinking more along the lines of an Alexander Valley Pinot Noir or a nice New Zealand Pinot. You could also opt for a Burgundian white, but go easy on the chili as white Burgundies are something to behold and you wouldn’t want to kill the wine.

In all, we all know that the kebab is something that soaks up the beer at the end of a large night out and one of the greatest pairings with a kebab is beer. But that’s too old school and the humble kebab needs to be put in another spotlight. Remember, it’s only connected to alcohol because of us Westerners….it was, effectively invented by country-folk where alcohol is illegal. Sitting down to a sober kebab may seem like a strange idea, but grab a good bottle of wine and have a Middle Eastern feast and it may change your whole perception of the humble kebab. Go on...throw caution to the wind and, for the adventurous of you, why not grab a bottle of Lebanese or Turkish wine to complete the experience.

Happy Friday everyone!