What Wine Do You Serve with Chicken Fried Bacon? The State Fair of Texas Winning Fried Food
By JESSICA MEYERS / The Dallas Morning News
Nothing says Texas State Fair like fried cooking, and nothing says Texas like chicken fried steak. Glen Kusak’s chicken fried bacon combined both, winning him the best taste award Monday at the fourth annual Big Tex Choice Awards.
Mr. Kusak has been a fair vendor the past 12 years, but this was his first year entering the annual State Fair of Texas food contest. The event features some of the new creations that will be available at this year’s fair, which runs from Sept. 26 to Oct. 19. “Everything in Texas is chicken fried and bacon makes everything better so we thought we’d put the two together,” said Mr. Kusak, owner of Yoakum Packing.
More at: http://bit.ly/3WaHtv
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After seeing this, I started thinking….Well, what wine would pair with chicken fried bacon, anyway? This is actually an interesting question. Bacon has qualities that challenge the best of wineophiles. It’s salty. It’s smokey, In this case, it’s also “uber’ greasy from the fat in the bacon and further infused by the deep frying process.
Let’s see….You could go sweet as do the Germans. They pair ham, bacon and a whole host of pork sausages with off-dry Rieslings. The French on the German border augment their equally pork-rich diet with a raft of full bodied but dry white Vin d’Alsace including Pinot Blanc, Riesling, Gewürztraminer or even a lighter, dry sparkling white wine, Crémant d’Alsace. The Spanish go a different route with libacious quantities of young red wines known as “vino joven” or the slightly oak aged, crianza Rioja. They might even pull a bottle of dry fino Sherry.
Well, we are in Texas where (in case you haven’t realized it) a lot of the old rules of wine just don’t apply. So, it is a blank slate with a chance to pick what we like and what is a true Vin d’Texas.
For my taste, I would chose a Texas Viognier – the Texas wine that hints of sweet aromas, but fools by presenting dry. Viognier is a Texas home grown and produced while having food-friendly qualities that make chicken fried bacon a great match. Viogniers are made at many Texas wineries, the best of which are:
Brennan Vineyards (www.brennanvineyards.com)
McPherson Cellars (www.mcphersoncellars.com
Becker Vineyards (www.beckervineyards.com)
Grape Creek Vineyards (www.grapecreek.com)
If you have another choice, please post your alternative Texas wine selection as a comment on this blog. Click the “balloon” icon in the upper right (next to the title).
I have thrown down the gaunlet and thrust at you what I believe is my personal best wine pairing. If you need some help, go to the list of 2009 Texas Lone Star Wine Competition award winners, at: http://www.txwines.org/forms/2009%20LSIWC%20TEXAS%20Winners.pdf
Now, it is your turn (as in fencing) to parry or flèche, but please don’t disengage.
I look forward to your response….Well, what’s keeping you?
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The Slate of Eight 2009 Texas State Fair Deep Fried Finalists
Best taste – Chicken-Fried Bacon; vendor: Glen Kusak, Yoakum Packing
Most creative – Fried Banana Split; vendor: Shirley Weiss, Auto Grill
Other finalists
• Fernie’s All-American Fried Grilled Cheese Sandwich; vendor: Christi Erpillo, Dock Restaurant
• Texas Fried Jelly Bellys; vendor: Justin Martinez, Granny’s Funnel Cake
• Deep Fried S’mores; vendor: Tami Stiffler
• Fire & Ice (fried pineapple creation); vendor: Abel Gonzales Jr.
• Fried Chocolate Truffles; vendor: Nick Bert Jr.
• Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Waffle Balls; vendor: Mark Zable, Belgium Wafflest
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VOTE FOR RUBIO
You can vote for Rubio, the worlds cutest Labradoodle, in his Halloween costume as Sherlock Homes complete with “hounds” tooth cape and deerstalker hat. He is trying to solve the “Lost Bone Mystery”. Go to: http://www.thedogtrainingsecret.com/blog/inspector-rubio-sherlock-holmes-costume/
What a hoot? I cross-posted this blog to Live Journal and see what discussion/comments it prompted there…
http://community.livejournal.com/wine/409836.html?view=2814188#t2814188
Russ
My favorite comments is:
I’d be more curious as to what type of defibrillator one serves with deep fried butter (or chicken fried bacon, for that matter)
My response was…”Just think of deep fried butter as Chicken Kiev without the chicken!”
I’ve not enjoyed a chicken fried anything for some time now, but when I did, I’d go straight for a Texas Chardonnay. With bacon, though, I’d be inclined towards a tart, slightly sweet white with some spritz (it’ll handle the fat and salt) like Sister Creek Muscat Canelli or Torre di Pietra Dirty Girl.
Best,
Don
http://www.linkedin.com/groupAnswers?viewQuestionAndAnswers&discussionID=8930647&gid=97320&commentID=7775525&trk=view_disc
for more suggestions.
I gave this one a lot of thought and think I would go with a Texas native, Poteet Country Winery’s White Mustang. I came to this selection after recalling my wife and I sharing a bottle with BLT sandwiches with three layers of bacon. It worked really well, which is no surprise — White Mustang goes with a lot of foods and is as Texan as longhorns on a trail drive.
Jack,
You picked a real native Texas winner, alright. Mustang has its distinctive qualities and is often poo-pooed by wineophile. But, it can work well especially when a flavorful sweet fruit quality and crispness is needed.
I have not tasted Poteet’s Mustang, but will have to do so.
The pairing wil a BLT sounds grand as well.
Thanks for your response.
Russ
I have been reading the posts, and I absolutely concur with what Sam said.