Pair It Up! Potato Cakes Stuffed with Trout

Like many, I've gotten caught up in the binge-worthy Netflix series Chef's Table. Each of the first six episodes focuses on a different high-profile chef, and the story of Argentine chef Francis Mallmann is perhaps the most idyllic. He has a cabin on his own island in the middle of a lake in Patagonia where he bakes fish in packed clay and cooks meat buried with embers in the earth. In one scene, just after fishing, he moors his boat in shallow water to a table set with wine, and a smoking barbeque fixed to the side of the boat.

To honour Chef's Table, I searched through Francis Mallmann recipes from Food & Wine, before finding Potato Cakes Stuffed with Trout. This is a fairly simple recipe and the main contributing flavours are from the fish, potatoes, butter, and oil. A crisp and grassy white wine, like Sauvignon Blanc, or a lean citrusy Riesling would work well—a wine with high acid that will cut through the fat, but not overwhelm the flavours of the fish. I also really enjoy a lighter-styled rosé with trout and salmon, which may partly be about pairing colour to colour, but I think the flavours complement each other well.

From the Okanagan, my pick is the JoieFarm 'Think Pink' 2014 Rosé ($21.00), which is a blend of Pinot Noir and Gamay, styled after the rosés from the Loire.

From Niagara, I like the Tawse 2013 Grower's Blend Rosé ($18.95), a juicy blend of Cabernet Franc, Pinot Noir and Merlot, made using the saignée method.

Jake Skakun is a writer and sommelier from Vancouver, currently living in Toronto. He can be found most days pulling corks and twisting caps at the Black Hoof. He Tweets and Instagrams @jakeskakun.