Thursday 1 November 2007

Beer goggles

I’ve just been reading an article in an Aussie food magazine about this ‘new’ idea of linking good/boutique beers with certain foods like you would drink certain wines with certain dishes.

HELLO!! They’ve been doing that in the UK for a couple of years now!

On the forefront of this breakthrough idea is a restaurant in Sydney called Balzac that is, funnily enough, owned by an Englishman and his wife.

The Aussies drink an average of 95 litres of beer per capita in a year and only 27 litres of wine in the same time. No wonder restaurants are trying to push their beer sales. My question to you is “have any of you tried to experiment different beers with different foods?”

Through my experiences as a pub manager, I doubt it. Most people use beer to quench their thirst or fill their right hand while watching the big game on a Saturday afternoon!

But do yourself a favour and try it. It basically works the same as wine. Try a lighter beer with white meat and fish and a darker ale with red meats. You can even have beer with your dessert instead of a sweet dessert wine. Go on, try it. Below are some of my recommendations:

Seafood - IPA (Indian Pale Ale)
Oxtail - Amber Ale
Seafood pasta - Pilsner (Peroni)
Spicey Oriental food - Tiger, Kirin
Bread & Butter pudding - Hoegaarden Grand Cru
Chocolate desserts - Westmalle Dubbel

Chat soon,
DelBoy

4 comments:

The Divine Miss M said...

I hate beer.

Just thought I'd throw my 2 cents in ;)

Terri said...

I like beer.

I just didn't know there were different types for different occasions. You've educated me, Cuz.

DelBoy said...

miss m: I think you're missing out. Next time you're down the pub, try a Fruli Strawberry beer or a Floris Ninkeberry (named after the brewers 2 daughters)
terri: Old dogs and new tricks and all that... missed you cuz!

The Divine Miss M said...

@delboy - Ah, you see I love Belguim beer! Fruli is yummy, have you ever had the chocolate Floris one? Or the passionfruit one? They also have many other amazing flavours ... they don't taste like beer though

*drifts off into a happy place of chocolate beer*