Fritto misto

Fritto misto

Assuming a plate of lightly battered squid, prawns, small fish and vegetables, served with lemon.

Fritto misto wants what all fried food wants, high acidity or bubbles to cut the fat, and a clean, salty, unoaked white to suit the seafood. Oak and shellfish together taste metallic. Tannin does nothing for a crisp batter.

Pairs Perfectly. Verdicchio, Marche, Italy. Lemon, green apple and a bitter almond finish on a firm acid line, grown on the Adriatic coast where this plate is everyday food. It cuts the batter, matches the lemon and is an everyday bottle.

Pairs Well. Franciacorta, Lombardy, Italy. Italian sparkling wine made the Champagne way, whose bubbles and acidity scrub the frying fat from the palate.

Pairs Well. Assyrtiko, Santorini, Greece. Lemony, salty and firm, with the grip to stand up to crisp fried squid.

Worth Seeking Out

Pošip from Korčula, Croatia. An island white with almond and a salty finish, drunk along the Dalmatian coast with fried fish.

Avoid

Oaked whites and red wine. Oak and tannin turn seafood metallic, and neither helps a fried batter.

Failing That

A Vermentino, Sardinia, Italy.

If All Else Fails

Muscadet sur lie, Loire.

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