Bourbon And Tandoori Chicken? You Bet — Here's How

Photo courtesy Bourbon+ Magazine

I wrote this article for Bourbon+ magazine a couple of years ago, when my friend Fred Minnick was editor-in-chief. He’s since moved on to bigger and splashier pursuits, such as drinking insanely rare whiskey with big-time celebrities on his podcast. If only we could all be so fortunate. Anyway, I believe this piece was one of those rare beasts destined only for print… until now.

It’s crazy that less than a decade ago, pairing cocktails with food was a major no-no, even among bartenders. You want food with your martini or daiquiri? Help yourself to the mixed nuts and wasabi peas in the little dish at the bar. If you’re ordering a meal, however, expect wine glasses. Of course, those times, like the hazy days of yesteryear when we didn’t photograph everything we eat and drink, are long gone now. Cocktails may not have eclipsed wine as the beverage of choice when ordering a meal, but it is now equally acceptable to have the hard stuff throughout a repast as it is to sip the vino. And that’s a wonderful thing.

It can be argued that bourbon has had a foot in the foodie door for longer than most distilled spirits, simply because it goes so well with beef. Sure, a hearty red wine has traditionally been the beverage of choice with a porterhouse or a juicy burger, but pairing them with a Manhattan or a simple glass of bourbon and branch wasn’t exactly beyond the pale, even in the dark ages before cocktai-and-food pairings became a thing.

Today, thank goodness, our options are wide open. Anything goes — if you want a mint julep with your dinner, you can go right ahead and have one. I mention a mint julep because a) it’s a gosh-darned delicious drink, and b) it’s not the kind of thing most folks think of drinking with a meal. It’s simple to prepare — all you need is bourbon, sugar, crushed ice, and a big sprig of mint. You can find a bunch of recipes online with no problem, but basically you muddle several mint leaves along with a teaspoon of sugar; fill the glass with finely cracked or crushed ice; add about three ounces of bourbon (you don’t need cask strength for this drink — 80 to 90 proof works just fine); stir until your glass (or preferably your julep cup) frosts; and then stick in a big aromatic sprig of mint. Makes your mouth water just reading it, am I right?

My favorite dish to pair with a julep is broiled lamb chops, seasoned with salt, pepper, and a bit of rosemary. The rich, savory lamb goes so well with the sweet bourbon, and of course we know that lamb pairs with mint — otherwise, we wouldn’t eat our lamb chops with mint jelly. Which is fine when you’re a kid, but once you’re of drinking age, a julep-and-lamb chop pairing is so much more elegant. Lamb is naturally pretty fatty, and it needs something strong and clean to slice through it. What could be better than bourbon? If you want to go even more off the beaten path, a julep is a terrific match for a wintertime lamb stew.

Another delicious and underutilized bourbon cocktail to pair with food is the venerable Whiskey Collins, often referred to as a John Collins. which is a bourbonized take on the more famous gin-based Tom Collins. It’s essentially a highballed version of a whiskey sour: bourbon, lemon juice, and sugar or simple syrup in a tall glass, topped with soda water. It’s cool, it’s refreshing, and it goes great with spicy food, by which I don’t necessarily mean steam-coming-out-of-your-ears hot, but steeped in a melange of aromatic spices to give the dish a powerful, in-your-face flavor.

My favorite Collins pairing is tandoori chicken, a dish that contains coriander, cumin, and paprika, among other spices, in a yogurt-based marinade. The acidity of the cocktail’s lemon juice and the sweetness of the bourbon and sugar, along with the bubbles, manage to stand up to the chicken’s big, tangy flavor. If Indian food isn’t your bag, try the drink with dry-rub barbecue (not Kansas City-style “wet” ‘cue; I dinf that saucier foods require something heavier than the light, bubbly Collins).

Since it’s now acceptable to drink bourbon with just about every meal — what, you don’t have bourbon Bloody Marys with your bacon and eggs?" — let this be a launchpad of sorts for you to come up with your own tasty bourbon-and-eats pairings. If you need a guinea pig to test them out, I’m always on call.