CIDER AND FOOD

With its tangy apple flavour and natural acidity, dry cider is a natural partner to a huge variety of foods.

The bistro at Spirit Tree Estate Cidery specializes in English and French bistro dishes that work beautifully with cider—pork (of course), poultry and game birds, fondue… What goes best with the draught cider? “Roast duck,” says Thomas Wilson, “because of the touch of spiciness and the bit of Brett’ in the cider.”

Up at Georgian Hills Vineyard you can sit on the patio and eat pork sausages with Ardiel cider—a brilliant match. “The old appleandpork combo,” says Robert Ketchin. “You can’t go wrong. But it’s also brilliant with really hot, spicy things like chicken wings in suicide sauce. Cider dissipates the burn.”

At Canada’s first cider bar, Her Father’s

Cider Bar + Kitchen, on Harbord Street in Toronto (herfathers.ca), I tasted some of the best fried chicken in town, a great match with very dry Beaver Valley Flagship cider. The restaurant’s owner, Joshua Mott, is the son of the couple that own Beaver Valley cidery so it’s not surprising it features among the 100plus Canadian and international ciders on offer.

Sweet, tangy ice cider has its own culinary raisons d’être. Superb with apple desserts, it’s also a brilliant match to foie gras or blue cheese. Look for Domaine Pinnacle Ice Cider (LCBO 94094, 375 mL, $24.35) or Georgian Hills Ida Red Frozen to the Core (LCBO 359380, 375 mL, $20.40).