Old World Wine Pairings

By Food & Wine
Updated May 24, 2017
Old World wines and Old World dishes are intrinsically good together. The flavors of foods and wines that have grown up together over the centuries—Tuscan recipes and Tuscan wines, for instance—are almost always a natural fit.
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Pappardelle with Veal Ragù

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This goes well with a cherry-rich, medium-bodied Chianti Classico.

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Smoky Shrimp-and-Chorizo Soup

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This soup pairs well with an earthy Rioja.

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Tuscan-Style Veal Chops

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“Grill masters all over the world have noticed that when you grill a piece of meat and then anoint it with some kind of fat, it mixes with the meat juices and creates instant sauce,” Raichlen says. “At Peter Luger Steakhouse, in Brooklyn, steaks get finished with a pat of butter; other places use beef tallow.” In Tuscany, olive oil is the fat of choice for finishing herbed veal chops like these.

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Ligurian Seafood Soup

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This gorgeous dish of layered shellfish and seafood is based on a recipe that sommelier Richard Betts found in a 1995 issue of F&W. Betts freely adapts the recipe to whatever looks best at the market, but he always follows the same formula: fish on the bottom, shellfish on the top. “It’s so impressive,” he says. “When you pull it out of the oven, people freak.”

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Cassoulet with Duck Confit

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Chef Laurence Jossel of San Francisco’s Nopa restaurant created this stripped-down version of the classic French stew, with creamy white beans, luscious store-bought duck confit, smoky French garlic sausage and slab bacon. Letting the beans rest overnight develops their flavors.

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Bacon-and-Leek Quiche

Photo © Quentin Bacon
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To celebrate the film Julie & Julia, starring Amy Adams as blogger Julie Powell and Meryl Streep as Julia Child, throw a cooking party featuring one of the amazing matriarch’s favorite foods: quiche.

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Balsamic and Rosemary-Marinated Florentine Steak

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Chef Nancy Silverton adores Antica Macelleria Cecchini, Dario Cecchini’s famous butcher shop in the Tuscan town of Panzano, where she buys thick porterhouses to make this classic recipe. Chef Matt Molina and his entourage prepared the dish on their last night in Italy, marinating the meat in olive oil, balsamic vinegar and rosemary.

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