From delicious dips and spit-roasted meats to signature sweet treats, take your favourite dishes up a notch with these pairings.
The best meals are shared. Dishes spread across a heaving table, the clatter and clang of bowls and spoons as everyone serves themselves, the pleasant din of conversations crossing over – this shared experience is something that plenty of cultures hold dear, but we see it especially around Middle Eastern food.
While the region is full of diverse flavours and unique traditions, Middle Eastern cuisines are often united by dishes and ingredients like flatbreads, herby salads, aromatic spices and grilled or slow-cooked meats like lamb – and you’ll usually see it all served up family style. All it needs is a glass or two of well-matched wine or beer and we’re set.
So, what are the best drinks to pair with Middle Eastern food? Next time you’re sitting down to share a big, Middle Eastern feast (or indulging solo style – no worries there), consider matching your meal with one of these great drinks.
In countries like Turkey and Cyprus, mezze are small plates, often featuring flatbreads like pita, the strained yoghurt dish of labneh, and dips such as hummus and baba ghanoush. Along with other regional faves (we love fried bread and the salty, springy fried cheese halloumi), these add up to a shareable, snackable start to a meal that definitely has our tick of approval.
Wine match: We’d pair mezze the same way we would with many other light appetisers and go for a crisp, breezy wine. We reckon the Tim Adams Pinot Gris fits the bill perfectly, being dry and light-bodied with just a little texture, plus plenty of juicy fruit flavours and a good whack of acidity. It’s fresh, easy-going and a perfect start to a Middle Eastern feast.
Egyptian and Levantine cuisines have given us plenty of killer dishes, but falafel (fried and spiced chickpea/fava bean patties) might take the title. Honestly, falafel hits all the marks for us: it’s crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, it’s a simple snack or a deadset winner in a pita. Oh, and falafel is typically vegan, which means everyone gets to enjoy it. Pretty great, right?
Beer match: We love falafel served with a crunchy, herby salad and tahini in a pita but, however you enjoy it, we reckon it only gets better with an icy cold bottle of Balter Cerveza on the side. The light lager is crisp, clean and unfussy, making it the perfect palate cleanser between big bites of falafel.
Bless the culinary diversity of Middle Eastern cultures – they’ve thought of everything. While falafel is a vegan treat, there’s no shortage of options for the more carnivorous, and we’re talking especially about melt-in-your mouth meats like lamb kofta and chicken shawarma.
Kofta is usually meatballs or meatloaves made from ground meat like lamb, loaded with aromatic spices and it’s often grilled. Shawarma is thinly sliced meat, stacked on a vertical spit. They’re both great as part of a broader spread, served with salads, dips and sides, or wrapped up in a chewy flatbread.
Wine match: However you prefer it, the delicate spices and tender meat of lamb kofta and chicken shawarma scream for a cold, dry and lively rosé like Mirabeau X Provence. It’s fruity, it’s fresh and it’s made for tender Middle Eastern-style meats.
Middle Eastern cuisine has plenty of flash and theatre, with a spectrum of spices, intricate dips and sauces, and complex blends of grains, herbs and vegetables that go into many of the region’s salads and sides. There’s definitely room for simplicity, though, and it shines through with grilled meat dishes like lamb chops and shish kebabs.
Shish kebabs are skewered and grilled cubes of meat – usually chicken or lamb – often with chunks of vegetables in between. Throw these and a few lamb chops on a grill over some hot coals and the result is a couple of smoky, meaty dishes well beyond the sum of their parts.
Cocktail match: Sure, you could go for a red wine here (grenache or pinot noir would do very well), but we love the freshness and complexity of a Whisky Highball. We’d go for Hakushu Single Malt, a lighter style of Japanese whisky with a whisper of peat smoke that’ll match the grilled meat perfectly.
Although typically associated with Greece, many neighbouring countries in the Middle East have their own, unique moussaka tradition. Middle Eastern moussaka (which is common in places like Lebanon, Turkey and Egypt) is usually a layered dish of fried eggplant and a tomato sauce flavoured with earthy spices. Sometimes you’ll get chickpeas, sometimes minced beef (which would be our choice, honestly) but usually without the rich bechamel topping of the Greek-style moussaka.
Wine match: While Middle Eastern moussaka is a little lighter than the Greek version, it’s still a hearty dish, packed with rich eggplant and beef, and rounded out with savoury tomato sauce. For us, all signs point towards a gutsy red wine. Considering the main ingredients, we think an Italian red wine like the Maretti Sangiovese will go down a treat. It’s medium-bodied, full of cherry and spice flavours, and perfect for cutting through the saucy richness of moussaka.
It’s not all savouries in our dream Middle Eastern feast, so you’ll need to save some room for the region’s signature sweeties. If you’re not yet acquainted, baklava is a treat made of layered filo pastry, nuts and syrup, and there are plenty of flaky and sweet variations. Turkish delight can get some variation, too (chopped nuts and fruit are common additions), but it’s almost always a sweet, gelatinous cube flavoured with rose water.
Liqueur match: On both these accounts, we reckon the best match is the slightly exotic flavour profile of Disaronno. The almond liqueur is sweet, a touch herbal, and the perfect pairing for these rich, sweet flavours. Maybe a cup of Turkish coffee, too, if you really want to tie a bow on your night.
