Much as I love wine at meal times (or
anytime, come to think of it), sometimes I crave for a long drink with my food.
We all know that there are some foods that will go better with beer - pizza,
burgers and spicy curries or deep-fried treats are some that spring to mind. I
really love good quality beer, but admit to never really considering it as a
serious alternative to wine for a gourmet meal.
So it was with great curiosity that I
recently accepted an invitation to a Duvel Beer Dinner at Le Gavroche. Perhaps
unsurprisingly, the food was outstandingly good, but it was the pairing of the
four excellent dishes we enjoyed with a selection of Duvel beers that has given
me pause for thought.
Interestingly, the principles of beer and
food pairing are somewhat similar to those that apply to wine. For example, in
wine and food pairing, it is a common misconception that fish and white meat
will always go with white wines and red meats with red wines. In fact, the
trick is not to focus on colour but rather consider the weight or body of the
dishes and wines.
Similarly, in beer matching, one of the
basic principles is “matching strength with strength”. This means that milder
dishes will normally go best with delicate beers whilst strongly flavoured
foods require more weighty beers. The weight of the beer relates not only to
its alcoholic strength, but also to the degree of malt character, bitterness
from hops, sweetness and richness.
Take our first pairing at Le Gavroche for
example – a lovely seared pepper tuna with ginger, chilli and a zingy soy
dressing, served with a glass of Liefmans Cuvee Brut 6%. The Liefmans is a deep
red fruit beer matured with cherries, which has a rich and refreshing flavour.
With sweet and sour undertones, it interacted really well with the pepper and
ginger in the tuna. I found it a perfect match that complemented without
overpowering the meaty tuna, one of the best pairings of the evening.
Another important consideration is the
“interaction” of certain qualities between the food and beer being paired, for
example, characteristics like sweetness, bitterness and spice, and how these
interact with each other. Taking account of these relationships will help to
ensure a balanced pairing, with neither partner throwing the match out of sync.
Our next pairing was a good illustration of
this. A perfectly roasted cod with a rich mustard butter sauce was served with
a glass of Vedett Extra White 4.7%. A wheat beer, this had a delicious,
refreshing and surprisingly crisp taste perfect for a fish dish.
An orange and
lemon zing cut through the richness of the butter while the gentle bitterness
from the unfiltered yeast balanced the mustard heat of the sauce. This beer could
also make an excellent partner to fish terrines, mussels, prawns and even roast
chicken.
“Finding harmonies” between food and beer
pairings is also key. Combinations often work best when they share some common
flavour or aroma elements as we discovered in our next pairing. Racks of pork
and cheeks were braised in Duvel beer, making the meat yieldingly tender, sweet
and flavoursome. Perhaps logically, the pork was served with the beer in which
it had been cooked, a classic Belgian golden ale – Duvel 8.5%.
Smooth, lively and almost creamy on the
palate, with grapefruit and vanilla notes, Duvel has plenty of body and flavour
and can happily fill the shoes of a fuller bodied red wine. Its high alcohol
content gives a weight and mild bitterness that was the perfect match for the
sweetness of the slow braised pork.
For dessert, a Guinness cake with coffee
cream and chocolate and malt ice cream was served with a glass or two of LiefmansFruitesse 4.2%. Served over ice, this fresh tasting beer is generously sweet
with flavours of red fruits like cherries, raspberries and strawberries which
complemented well the chocolate and Guinness elements in this dessert.
The most unusual of the beers, and probably
my favourite of the evening, was Chateau d’Ychouffe 9% (Anno 2013) which was
served with our petits fours. The beer is macerated on the skin of sultana
grapes which impart a sweetness and wine-like quality I have never come across
in a beer. This had enough weight and concentration to go with the delectable
selection of nougat, chocolate truffles and macarons and rounded off the
evening splendidly.
If you would like to take your Belgian beer
and food pairing appreciation to yet another level, one last thing to consider
is choosing the correct glass for the type of beer. George Riedel, the Austrian
manufacturer famous for his range of wine glasses by grape varietal, has now
turned his attention to beer glasses introducing three different designs – a
flavour-concentrating Pilsner glass, a wheat beer glass and a wide-necked lager
glass. For more information about these, visit the Spiegelau website here (http://www.spiegelau.com).
A fascinating experience that has opened up
a whole new world of food and beer matching possibilities, I look forward to
developing this further and bringing it to my day to day and supper club dining
experiences.
For more information on the range of Belgian
beers featured, visit:
Duvel – http://www.duvel.com/en-gb
Vedett – http://www.vedett.com
Liefmans – http://www.liefmans.be/en
I have to be honest - I rarely drink wine with a meal. I've always preferred beer or lager. And you're right. It's important to match the food with the beer. Although I've not tried it at Le Gavroche yet but I will!
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