AND TO DRINK...

Drinks editor Yvonne Lorkin suggests drinks matches for these dishes.

Harissa Roasted Salmon with Walnut Dukkah

Lordy how incredible is this dish! So buy the best chardonnay you can, pronto. The Kidnapper Cliffs Hawke’s Bay Chardonnay 2014 ($54.99) is unbelievably gorgeous. Vibrant and golden in the glass, with ripe and sexy grapefruit, peach and pineapple notes, it also possesses gunflint and quartzy, minerally magic interwoven with creamy macadamia layers. With ballerina-like balance, it’s poised, succulent and so good with salmon – you won’t want the glass to end. Buy from teawacollection.com.

Honey Mustard Orange and Ginger Glazed Ham

By a mile the best wine to pair with Christmas ham glazed with all this sticky gorgeousness is the Linden Estate Hawke’s Bay Viognier 2014 ($25). The ham is the hero of the table and it deserves the absolute best. Exotically perfumed with jasmine and fresh apricot, this wine has silky, elegant layers of stonefruit and spice and a long, persistently fresh finish. Perfect with the salty richness of divine swine. Buy from lindenestatewinery.co.nz.