Placenta: impossible food-wine pairing?!?

“When I was pregnant, I just craved organs…so the placenta just made sense.”

So a new mother is quoted in a New York magazine article on cooking placenta. No, not polenta–placenta. I’ve never delivered a placenta personally, so maybe that’s why I find it a little difficult to, erm, swallow. But the NYmag story highlights various preparations including raw, popped in the blender with coconut water and banana, stewed with ginger, lemon, and a jalapeño pepper, and even pill form.

So let’s help the new mothers (and new fathers?) out there as only enophiles can with the fruit of their own labor and the fruits of the vine: which wine would you pair with placenta–or is it impossible?!?

Related: “Breast milk cheese: impossible food-wine pairing?

17 Responses to “Placenta: impossible food-wine pairing?!?”


  1. que horrible!!!! no usaria vino para eso! lo unico que usaria del vino es la botella para pegarles en la cabeza a esas mujeres por tontas!!


  2. I’m not sure. Does anyone happen to recall which Greek wine Cronus drank while he devoured his children? Retsina, perhaps?


  3. While probably any wine that goes with other organ meats (think, maybe, tripe in this case) will pair well, it’d be more likely that you’d need something to suppress your gag reflex instead of wine. I know I would, and I like organ meats. Well, many of them anyway.


  4. You’ve jumped the shark, Dr. Vino… 🙂


  5. I enjoy organ meats as well, but I’m not sure if I’d go as far as the placenta. Though, in some cultures it’s a delicacy! Maybe I’d pair it with something really strong, to help take the initial edge off and get over that hump of fear. Or better yet, drink the entire bottle first, and then eat once I have no idea what I’m doing 😉


  6. Hi Tyler, I know that you think I’m a wee bit crazy but one of my colleagues is even crazier and can answer this question for you – Martin Moran MW cooked a meal with his first born’s placenta and would have had wine with it. Give him a shout.


  7. Dear Doc V,
    I am happy as a father of three to suggest that the best “whine” to pair with fresh cut placenta is that of a healthy baby.

    Although watered-down vinegar is a rather medieval pairing it would probably be an adequate choice to acompany this type of dish.

    The thought of this pairing makes my memory of eating eel guts and bile in soup form seem like childs play. What’s next Doc “braised foreskin casserole with puppy heart mashers: impossible food-wine pairing?!?”


  8. Wine might not do it. I think you might have to go to something like everclear or absinthe: something that would numb your mind so that you wouldn’t think about what you were eating.


  9. Lots of comments on Twitter, FB, etc suggesting Chianti a la Hannibal Lecter…and fava beans.

    David – nice allusion! We will have to call Bacchus.

    Dermot – I *do* wonder what he had…

    Mike G– if NY mag runs a story on the braised foreskin casserole, then we will submit it to you for your pairing!


  10. Doc, for the love of all that’s Holy, please make posts like these later in the day! I read this before breakfast and immediately lost my appetite. That said, I’m going on record with Alsatian white our Vouvray…


  11. Champagne..it is somewhat of a celebration, no?


  12. Couldn’t we just ask Tom Cruise? He said he knew.


  13. I just wish I could “like” or vote up Mike G’s comment. But to answer your question Dr. Vino – impossible wine pairing? YES!


  14. I’d say anything that goes with organ meats would work well; perhaps a nice, earthy Vacqyras or a good pinotage.

    And… eew. No placenta for me, okthxbye!


  15. “But the NYmag story highlights various preparations i… stewed with ginger, lemon, and a jalapeño pepper.”

    I’m not entirely sure why, but gruner is the first thing that popped in my head.

    Just my impulse pairing.


  16. Hmmm… Can’t say placenta would be at the top of my list… You’d need at least a bottle of wine just to consider eating it! If I had to eat it, I’d suggest something strong flavoured – maybe a South African Pinotage like Barista Coffee Pinotage 2009 described as “a burst of intense, rich coffee and chocolate aromas with ripe nuances of mulberry, plum and Maraschino cherries” should be enough to overcome the meal, eh’?


  17. Beaujolais Nouveau flown in via stork.


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