Name: Grilled Arctic Char with Pineapple Salsa
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 6 min
Total time: 26 min
Yield: 3 servings
Cuisine: Seafood
Ingredients: FOR THE SALSA; 1 onion, sliced and chopped; 2 cups pineapple, diced into 1/2 inch pieces; 1 1/2 tsp jalapeño pepper, minced; 2 tbsp olive oil, divided; 1 tbsp lime juice; salt and pepper to taste; PREPARE THE ARCTIC CHAR; 2 tbsp orange juice; 1 tbsp soy sauce; 12 ozs arctic char fillet

Grilled Arctic Char with Pineapple Salsa recipe, served with a rosé wine from Southwestern France as part of a Wine Pairing Weekend exploration of rosé pairings.

Today the Wine Pairing Weekend group, hosted by Nancy at Pull That Cork, is sharing pairings for rosé wine. Certainly a great topic as we get ready for summer!

Rosé wine is pretty versatile. Given the tendency to serve it as the weather gets warm, I often like to pair rosé wine with grilled food, with seafood being a natural partner for rosé. Today I am pairing rosé wine and Grilled Arctic Char with Pineapple Salsa. Pineapple salsa has been featured here before, such as this tasty combination with grilled swordfish. But arctic char is new to me, so let’s talk about this fish a bit.

What is arctic char?

I’ve seen arctic char in the store and been curious, but this dish marks the first time I tried it. Arctic char is a cold water fish species found in alpine lakes and coastal waters in the arctic region. Reading up on arctic char to decide how to prepare it, I found the fish described as tasting like a combination of trout and salmon. You can kind of see the fillet marinating above looks a bit like a lighter colored salmon. I would have to agree with the description, and say that the arctic char definitely has a more delicate consistency and flavor profile, a bit more like trout. That makes it a great fish to serve with our flavorful pineapple salsa!

The arctic char I got from Whole Foods was sourced from a fish farm. Most of the arctic char available in the US comes from farms, according to this seafood industry site.

Wine Pairing for Grilled Arctic Char

Well, based on our theme we knew we were going to pick a rosé wine for our grilled arctic char. We went with the Domaine Roumagnac Authentique ($15), a blend of Negrette, Syrah, Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon. Domaine Roumagnac is located in the village of Villematier, on the western border of the Fronton appellation in Southwestern France. Negrette is the major grape from Fronton, and is not found too often outside of the area.

Perhaps the rosé wine theme had me biased, but I got roses on the nose of this wine. Taste of melon and kiwi. This tropical element was a nice match for the pineapple salsa. This rosé is a medium bodied wine, which was just right for the char. I like some big, robust, rosé wines, but such a wine would have overwhelmed this fish. I definitely give the pairing a thumbs up!

Grilled Arctic Char Cooking Notes

Arctic char is more delicate than some other fish I like to grill, such as salmon and swordfish. Turn it over carefully, but you still may have some or all the skin stick to the grill. That’s OK, just put the flesh side down on a clean part of the grill and remove the skin when you are done cooking (and eating perhaps!).

In the pineapple salsa for swordfish that I mentioned before, I grilled the pineapple and the onion together for the salsa. For this grilled arctic char recipe, I used fresh raw pineapple for the salsa, but added the smoky element by just grilling the onions. This work out nicely. A grill pan makes grilling the onions much easier, but if you don’t have one, you can place sliced onions directly on the grill. (I’ve provided my Amazon affiliate link to a good grill pan option; I would earn a commission if you use a purchase using the link).

We served our grilled chard with some kale pesto orzo. Lots of flavor on that plate!

Time to get down to the recipe details!