Guilty Pleasures... Moscato d'Asti and Vacuum Fried Pineapple. What?!

OK, I officially have found a new obsession. Trader Joe’s Vacuum Fried Pineapple. I mean, what could be bad about that right? It’s pineapple, AND it’s fried. Like a sweet potato chip. Very crunchy and sweet, but with a generous acidity. Also, the vacuum frying process must caramelize some of the sugars because there is a beautiful undertone of brown sugar and caramel as well. Plus a hint of palm oil- not greasy, but definitely richer than the usual piece of dried fruit. Delicious!

On a completely separate note, another awesome wine geek gave me an interesting article today about how Americans are buying more Moscato than ever before- domestic, USA Moscato. Not that CA especially doesn’t have a great history of growing Moscato grapes- it certainly does. However the Italian Wine Geek in me did wish more people knew about Italian Moscato, especially from Asti in Piemonte. I had this rolling around in my head tonight when I went into the fridge and saw the open bottle of Moscato d’Asti from Saracco sitting there… put this together with the pineapple chips I also had on hand… a new taste sensation!

The Saracco Moscato has this sharp, metallic nose, paired with the more obvious aromatics of a Moscato. Apart from the sweetness of the wine, there’s a nice, bright acidity too- making it the perfect foil for the crunchy sweet/ sour pineapple chips. The combination could probably benefit from some kind of sharp salty cheese as well- possibly a young Pecorino? If this sounds like a strange combination, check out this weird and esoteric combo here at dobianchi.com.