So your friends text you ‘we’re coming over’, and you’ve got ten minutes? Perfect. 

I’ve got five super-simple  bubbly cocktail recipes, 

and my chef friend Alen has the finger food  ideas that will pair nicely with the cocktails. 

We’ll make it look like you planned this all week. 

I love this challenge because sparkling cocktails  are perfect for hosting - they’re easy to make,  

they look impressive, and they can match  almost anything you put on the table. 

And I love creating food pairings with  cocktails, so this was a really fun project. 

But one pairing was so simple  it almost feels like cheating. 

Let’s start at the basics. If someone tells  you they’re coming over in ten minutes,  

you don’t have time to run to the store. A cold bottle of prosecco in the fridge is  

a good start, but it’s also smart to have some  finger food in the cupboard or the freezer. 

And a bit of confidence that you  can put flavors together fast. 

Also, don’t think of these five examples as a  full course menu that you should recreate exactly. 

Use this episode as a simple guide you can  adjust to whatever you already have at home. 

And honestly… even if you only  make one pairing, that’s more than  

enough when guests show up out of nowhere. When I’m coming up with cocktail recipes for  

food pairings, I always start with the food. The flavors on the plate and the course itself  

tell me what the drink should be. And even though I love to cook  

I decided to ask a local chef for help. Alen runs Mandl Food & Bar here in Maribor with  

his girlfriend. They’re friends of the channel and  their place is one of our favorite spots in town. 

It’s known for great brunch, amazing  burgers, and a really chill vibe. 

Alen loves taking simple food and  making it special with small touches. 

I asked him to show us a few easy  tricks that anyone can do at home…  

even when guests arrive unannounced. Here’s our first pairing - chips & spritz. 

To start things simple, Alen is going with  a snack that fits with almost any cocktail. 

To make DIY potato chips he starts with  peeled, sliced potato, soaked in ice water,  

dried with a towel and fried in oil. If you  want to skip this step it’s always great to have  

a bag of chips ready for situations like this. You can always add Alen’s twist by making a quick  

seasoning with a mix of smoked paprika and bacon  powder. When seasoning he also adds salt, but  

you can skip that if your chips are pre-salted. With your own seasoning a basic snack suddenly  

feels intentional. My turn. 

Start by filling a large wine glass with ice. Add FIOL, limoncello, and a splash of soda water. 

Finish with two drops of 20%  saline to boost the flavors. 

Give it a quick, gentle stir  then garnish with a mint bouquet. 

It’s fast, it looks great, and it’s ready  before your guests even sit down. But  

let’s see how it pairs with Alen’s chips.

Crunchy, slightly smoky, great appetizer if you're in a rush. And now let's try Limoncello Spritz.

Freshness of lemon cleans the palette of smokiness of the chips.

Both the chips and the cocktail compliment each other.

And I think with this pairing you can't miss.

Next up, an italian combo -  Pinsa & Fig Fiol Sparkler. 

For our next pairing, Alen is taking the  iconic Italian combo of prosecco and pizza,  

and giving it an upgrade by making a pinsa. Because this is all about helping yourself  

with things you can keep in the freezer for nights  like this, he starts with a pre-made pinsa base,  

adding some seasoned sour cream and mozzarella,  then heating it up in the oven. Then you make  

it special with your choice of toppings. Alen is  going with pancetta, gorgonzola, and sliced pears. 

To finish it off, a drizzle of  basil oil and spicy honey on top. 

You can add your own favorite  toppings, just make sure you  

have that in mind when making the cocktail. With FIOL’s tasting notes including pear,  

that’s not going to be hard. But this one has a popping secret. 

First I’m making a quick fig liqueur that  lasts for months, so you could already have  

this in the fridge. Cook dried figs in water  for about 5 minutes, to fully rehydrate them. 

Add the figs to a blender together with cognac for  the base, and some of the fig water from cooking  

the dried figs - that’s our dilution. Blend everything nicely,  

then strain it through a cloth filter. Don’t be afraid to squeeze it if you’re in a rush. 

At the end you can put the pulp into  a potato ricer to get maximum yield. 

Add the right amount of sugar,  give it a stir… and that’s it. 

I’ll leave a quicker instant version  of fig liqueur in the description if  

you’re really in a rush. But it’s the garnish  

where the cocktail gets its wow factor. Put some grapes into an iSi siphon, charge it with  

a CO₂ cartridge and leave it to sit for 5 minutes. That gives you plenty of time  

to make the cocktail. Grab a chilled coupe glass  

and pour in our DIY fig liqueur. Add a dash of orange bitters, 

a dash of white balsamic vinegar, and 2 drops of 20% saline solution. 

Lastly, top it with FIOL prosecco.  No ice in this one so really make  

sure your prosecco is well chilled. To get the grapes ready, just release  

the pressure, open the siphon and you’ll  have grapes that are popping with freshness. 

If you don’t have an iSi siphon you  can also use a soda stream, or just  

grab some fresh grapes and use those. But with this small mixology trick,  

you’ll have an elegant sparkling  cocktail that will impress any guest. 

Looks like a match made in  heaven, but let’s make sure. 

I think it's going to be hard to beat this  one. So good. So, we have slightly smokiness  

of bacon [pancetta], fruitiness of pear. Fig  goes so well together with FIOL and with this  

drink and pinsa and all together. Cheese,  bread - well, this is a lovely pairing. 

Like I said, probably hard to beat, but… it’s crispy fried chicken and a BHF cocktail. 

Mandl is known for their crispy chicken  tenders, so of course these made the list. 

They were soaked in salted buttermilk, then they  go into flour, a mixture of eggs & buttermilk,  

and back into flour, this time mixed with  Alen’s blend of seasoning - black pepper,  

garlic, onion, coriander, a bit of sugar and salt. But you can of course find good store bought  

chicken tenders to keep in your freezer at home. Fry your chicken until you get that perfect  

golden crispy coating. In the meantime you make  

this feel special by adding two homemade sauces. First, a creamy ranch, made with mayo, sour cream,  

salt, onion powder, garlic powder, lemon juice,  a bit of chopped chives and some chopped parsley. 

And for something with a bit of heat, a mix of  melted butter, honey, and sriracha hot sauce.  

Mix until smooth and that’s it. A combination of rich, creamy,  

spicy and sweet, that makes even  simple chicken tenders feel special. 

Tasty. Forget KFC, let’s make the BHF. 

The B in BHF stands for bourbon so add that  into the shaker first, followed by honey syrup. 

Lemon juice didn’t make it into the name,  but it’s in there, and so is saline solution. 

Add plenty of ice and give it a good shake until  it’s nice and chilled. Then double strain it  

into a rock glass over a clear ice sphere. This is another wow factor, but with an  

ice mold that I’ll link in the description, it’s  super easy to make beautiful, clear ice spheres. 

The F part of the name is of course FIOL, so top  up our cocktail. Give it a quick, gentle stir, 

and if you want, finish with a small lemon peel. A bubbly bourbon cocktail with honey and citrus,  

but I feel like it will be the perfect  pairing for the fried chicken tenders. 

Fried chicken and prosecco might not have  been on your bingo card, but here we are. 

A little spicy, but there's just the right amount of spiciness. 

And ranch - refreshing. Let's try the drink, too. I think bourbon and... 

bourbon and chicken in general is a good pairing. Nothing else to say. Perfect pairing. 

Next up, Piedina & a Margarita. Alen decided to take us  

back to Italy with a warm piadina. It all starts with a soft Italian flatbread,  

but feel free to use a tortilla. Alen first added  creamy burrata, followed by arugula, and slices  

of mortadella. To finish of this one he added pistachio dressing for some light crunch and  

some basil oil. If you just  have pesto you can use that. 

The piadina gets folded and warmed  up on a grill, so everything comes  

together and the bread gets a soft crust.  You can of course do this in a pan too. 

Alen suggests cutting it into smaller bites and  stacking them on a board, perfect for sharing. 

Let’s make a Margarita to go with it. With pesto and pistachios I decided to  

pair it with something bright and tropical. Into a shaker add blanco tequila as the base,  

followed by passion fruit liqueur as  our tropical sweetener - check out the  

description to see the easiest way to make  it. We still need lime juice and triple  

sec to really turn this into a Margarita. And lastly some salt, as saline solution. 

Give it a good shake, then double  strain into a highball glass rimmed  

with salt and filled with ice. Then  top it up with FIOL and that’s the  

Passion Prosecco Margarita. Final touch is a small basil  

leaf, as another connection to the basil oil. Tropical Mexican cocktail made for a match  

with the Italian snack. Let’s give it a try. 

Quite light, easy to eat, slightly spicy  from arugula. And nutty, from pistachios. 

Pistachios go well together with the  passion fruit here. Also with the tequila,  

especially arugula and tequila. Easy  to eat, easy to drink. Nice pairing. 

Really good fourth plate. And the final pairing,  

Chocolate brownies and a Strawberry Fizz. The one that almost felt like I’m cheating. 

It doesn’t matter if you made them  yourself, had them in the freezer,  

or your guests brought some over. Alen suggests serving them warm,  

so he puts these in the microwave oven. A  quick dressing is how you make them special. 

He decided on strawberries. Frozen will do  just fine. Heat them in a saucepan together  

with some FIOL Rosé and some sugar. Stir  and cook until it’s fully softened and all  

the flavors have married together. Feel  free to blend it if you want it smoother. 

And that’s it – a strawberry dressing that you  can use for more than just a brownie topping. 

Serve the warm brownies with a scoop of  vanilla ice cream, the strawberry dressing,  

and a dollop of whipped cream. And you’ve got a quick dessert  

that will make anyone feel special. So let’s make a special cocktail. 

This one starts off as a shaken cocktail  too, so into the shaker I’m adding gin, 

followed by Alen’s homemade  strawberry dressing. That’s easy  

on the sugar so let’s add simple syrup as well. To balance the sweetness I’m adding lemon juice, 

and about five fresh basil leaves -  basil really pairs well with strawberry. 

Don’t forget saline solution  to bring everything together, 

then add ice and give it a really good  shake, to release the aroma from the basil. 

Double strain into a chilled coupe glass - we don’t want any small bits  

of basil in the drink. Top it up with FIOL Rosé,  

to give it that light floral addition. A gentle stir and a small basil leaf for garnish.. 

Let’s see if we found a shortcut  to bridge a cocktail with a dish. 

They look amazing together, so let’s dive in. 

A little bit of wine notes here, chocolate notes,  

strawberries - wonderful dessert. Now, let's  try the cocktail.

Immediately on the aroma, the pairing of basil, vanilla, strawberries here.

And the drink itself too. Such an easy drink,

but such a lovely pairing. Strawberries on both sides.

A little bit of richness of vanilla and chocolate, cream - so simple, yet delicious. Cheers.

Using the same ingredient in a dish and a cocktail. That's the cheat code.

There you have it - if somebody shows up almost unannounced, there are always ways

to make your life easier, but know that you can still make something that makes them go - wow!

If you try any of these, or come up with your own combinations, let me know in the comments.

Alen, thank you so much for this. It was a pleasure to work with you,

and for that reason, we all brought you a big FIOL.

Thank you so much again. - Thank you, Kevin. 

- Cheers. - Cheers.