Perfect match
Adelaide, where I grew up, is known as 'the city of churches'. One of the city's hidden secrets is the humble-looking pie cart parked outside the central post office at the railway station. It's an institution for late-night revellers needing something to eat before the sun comes up. Their special 'pie floater' is an upside-down meat pie topped with radioactively bright green mushy peas. It's similar to the better-known English version where the pie is right-side up and the peas are under the pie. The drinks to go with both versions need to be strong enough to cut through the thickest of mushy peas.
Coopers Sparkling Ale, South Australia
A few generations since it started brewing beer, Coopers is still 100percent natural and 100percent family owned. The Cooper family are as iconic South Australian as the pie floaters. This natural ale boasts it's 'cloudy but fine'. The cloudiness comes from the yeast sediment which is deliberately left in the bottle to give the ale richness, fruitiness and - a little known fact - age-worthiness in the bottle.
When you are out shopping for Coopers red label, buy twice as much as you need and put the other half under your bed, it will happily age for two years or more. The intense fruitiness of the sparkling ale links up nicely with the meat pie and especially the crisp pastry. The super velvety bubbles restore the palate in preparation for either another mouthful of pie or the Coopers. Available for HK$13 from Watson's Wine Cellar (tel: 2813 0173).
Shaw and Smith Shiraz 2006, Adelaide Hills, South Australia
I have prepared myself for someone to write in and complain about how it is sacrilege to pair one of Australia's best shiraz wines with food eaten with plastic cutlery. If you want, then drink the wine with a premium steak pie and a side of mushy peas. The wine may be completely delicious but neither the winemakers nor the wine is pretentious. It can be described as a good, wholesome drop with a stylish thread. The cool-climate Adelaide Hills shiraz is all pepper and exotic spice. While it's very Australian, I suspect it will impress more than a few French. It marries seamlessly with the meat pie and gives the mushy peas something to aspire to. Available for HK$264 from Kedington (tel: 2898 9323)
Bridge Pa Louis Syrah 2005, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand
This is only included in the South Aussie-themed column because it's so delicious. It's only slightly less dense and powerful than the Shaw and Smith shiraz. It has plenty of perfumed fruit. The Hawkes Bay region has been producing tasty cabernets and, more recently, good shiraz. The Louis is top of the range. It's not easy to find in Hong Kong - but neither are good pie floaters. Available for HK$438 from At Style International (tel: 6593 1859)
