Oh, Sherry baby!

Score another food pairing win - or two of them, in fact - for Sherry. Sidling up to our roast chicken this evening were some steamed rapini with currants and a dollop of the Pasta Shop's highly spicy Asian-style tuna salad. Both are wine-killers, and Lustau's Manzanilla 'Papirusa' Sherry ($13.99) was delicious with both. What's particularly interesting about these pairings is that Manzanilla is completely dry. I normally would recommend an off-dry wine with spicy, Asian-style dishes. And with the beguiling bitterness of rapini? I don't know - maybe grüner-veltliner? But something about the smokey nuttiness and tangy chalkiness of Fino-style Sherry framed the flavors of these two dishes nicely without getting killed by the sweetness or accentuating the bittnerness. Drink and learn....