Pairing with Rum

Pairing with Rum

Wine pairings are common at most mid-to-upper level restaurants.

In the past few years, with the rise of craft brewing, beer pairings have become equally commonplace.

Brown liquors like whiskey, whether Bourbon or Scotch, though they can pair with some food items, seem a little too hot and aggressive for most (though definitely not all) foods.

Rum, however, may be another story.

I had just ordered a Manhattan at Weather Mark (1503 S. Michigan) when owner Mark Stern, whose guest I was, told me that he had a 50+ collection of rums that might be fun to pair with dinner.

That sounded like an excellent idea. I put down the Manhattan, though it was one of the better ones I’ve had at a place I’d never been before.

Softer than whiskey, not as bloating as beer though without many of wine’s subtleties, rum is actually a natural accompaniment to meats like pork, which benefit from a bit of sweetness, or spicy sausage, the flavor of which is mellowed and enhanced by rum.

Rum also pairs well with cheese, the saltiness and creaminess of which seems suitably matched with sweetness.



Stern gave me small sipping portions of a 23 year-old Ron Zacapa, a 12 year-old Flor de Cana and a few other rums from Puerto Rico, Haiti, Trinidad and Martinique. As I have experienced before (at ronnie_suburban’s house; unforgettable), the range of flavors and textures of the world’s rums is indeed remarkable.

Now, I probably wouldn’t order rum with, for instance, a beefsteak, but for pork, spicy preparations and cheese, I think the possibilities of pairing with rum are considerable.

For Thanksgiving, we made a rum-cider punch that worked well with the sweet-savory offerings of the day (smoked turkey, sweet potatoes, etc.).

Rum. I have come to respect ye. Arggh.

David Hammond wrote: As I have experienced before (at ronnie_suburban’s house; unforgettable)

Hope your most recent experience concluded differently than last time

I've got a couple of OK rums, but really rum is one of those spirits - like gin - that I'm not sure I could stomach drinking straight. That said, rum is astoundingly diverse and far-flung - you can even get Michigan rums - and "And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World In Ten Cocktails" was one of the most educational books I've ever read. Did anyone else know that rum distilleries used to proliferate in colonial New England, specifically Boston, and that rum played a major role in the American revolution? The sugar tax, it turns out, was a tax on cheap sugar cane imported from the French West Indies, for the purpose of making rum. And the rest is history.

These details never occurred to me back in grade school.

I wonder if the fact that Rum is made from sugar makes it more conducive to pairing with food. Certainly rum works well as an ingredient in various sauces, fillings and glazes, so I don't see why it shouldn't work as a paired beverage. I would be falling down drunk if I drank straight spirits as my primary beverage for a whole meal. At dinner, my Russian grandfather would drink a tumbler full of vodka like it was water, and not seem the least bit drunk. I'm afraid I didn't inherit those genes.

Being Thanksgiving, I always add a little dark Rum to the sweet potatoes, which usually means I have the rest of the bottle left for drinking. Yesterday, I also made a ham with grilled pineapple soaked in rum, which was a delicious break from turkey. After I read this thread, I tried some of the left over ham with a small glass of rum. I thought it worked really well. I also found that ginger ale made an excellent "back" beverage for the rum.