By Laura Rancie.
Have you paired your rum with chocolate yet?
That’s right! Rum AND chocolate. Not your typical pairing but OH. SO. GOOD! So let me explain to you how it works because you don’t need to be a rum connoisseur to create a really great food and rum pairing be it for your next dinner party or romantic date night.
Pay attention to any distinct flavours from the drink or dish.
The first thing you absolutely need to know is the difference between a congruent pairing and a complementary pairing. Basically, a congruent pairing means you will select a rum because it shares the same dominant element as is found in your food - for example, a dark sipping rum with a steak.
A complementary pairing means you will select a rum with an opposite dominant profile than that found in your food. For example, a Mojito with a spicy dish will allow the sugar in your cocktail to cool down and balance the spiciness in your dish.
Don’t overwhelm the flavours.
When it comes to pairing rum with dishes, it’s always a good idea to match flavours and intensities; for example, acidity, sweetness and saltiness. All these contribute to the overall taste. If you are enjoying chocolate that offers rich dark flavours, an excellent choice would be a dark sipping rum with caramel notes. This pairing allows the flavours to harmonise and create a delightful experience.
Match textures.
This one’s pretty straightforward, a lightweight food like poultry or fish can be complemented by a more delicate white rum, whereas richer, heavier foods like red meat casseroles need full-bodied rums like a dark sipping rum. Consequently, for those of you similar to me who love throwing the occasional dinner party or as I recently experienced, a really fun cocktail and games night - you can now confidently pair your good food selections with a modern Australian rum.
Hailing from French Martinique, the home of agricultural rum, Quentin Brival is Husk Rum's Head Distiller and explains it as only a true connoisseur can. He says: "Consider your rum. Is it aged or unaged? Does it have spiced, sweet, floral or smoky tasting notes? All this can affect the pairing and chocolate and rum are one of the best possible pairings”.
Quentin illustrates his point by adding: "Rum has plenty of intense notes that pair wonderfully with chocolate. For high-quality dark sipping rums, pairing it with dark chocolate brownies creates a heavenly match."
This really shouldn’t be too surprising, given that Agricole rum is made from freshly crushed sugar cane juice. With only around 3% of the world's rum being Agricole and originating from the Caribbean, Aussies are seriously in luck with the dstillery having recently opened in Northern NSW. It is here that the sugar cane is harvested, the juice is pressed, fermented then distilled into Agricole Rum.
With a clear male skew on rum drinkers by seven percent, more Australian men say rum is their favourite spirit to drink, I ask ladies…can we even the score? With Mojitos recently taking the prized position as most popular cocktail among women, here is Husk Distillery's special recipe. You’re welcome.
MOJITO RECIPE BELOW:
For more recipe ideas, see Husk Rum’s Guide to Food Pairing.
Mojito:
• Half a chopped lime
• 2 tsp raw sugar
Muddle:
• Add some mint
• 60mL Husk Pure Cane Rum
• Add ice
• Top with soda
