| Taste Match |
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Beer and oysters were a classic combination for London's poor in the early 19th century. The oysters were probably eaten au natural and washed down with what? Herein lies the crux of taste-matching: which beer with what? With beer undergoing a popular revival in Australia, and growing volumes of craft brews emerging, matching beer with food has never been more relevant. Yet the ground rules have changed dramatically. Simplistic matches don't work for the simple fact that Australians no longer subsist on a solely Anglo-Saxon diet. Quite the contrary; in terms of cuisine, Australia is one of the most eclectic nations in the world. Yet there always exists a synergy between beers and foods of the same country. Kirin Ichiban lager with sushi, English ale with roast beef, Singha lager with Thai curry, Tiger with chilli crab, full-bodied Munich lager with pork and sauerkraut, Spendrups Old Gold lager with Sweden's salty herrings, pilsener with German sausage and Tsing Tsao with Chinese food. But what of Australians who eat all these cuisines and more? As with wine, it's about matching the weight, flavour or intensity of the beer with the food, so mild beers with mild food, robust beers with robust dishes, and spicy, hoppy beers for hot and fiery feasts. Always, food and beer should complement each other, with just enough difference to shift attention from one to the other. This keeps things interesting for the palate for, just as it can be boring if only one person talks at a dinner party, so it can be dull if either the food or the beer dominates. Like any good relationship, the beer and the cuisine should be better in combination than apart. Think about the overall flavour of the finished dish, for you may have changed the character of the food by the way it's cooked or with the sauce used. Let's take chicken as a model. No single beer ‘goes with chicken'. It depends entirely on what sort of chicken is being cooked. Is it poached, roasted, barbecued, soy sauce chicken, or cooked in a sauce like coq au vin or Thai green curry? Each method demands a different beer. Chicken simply poached in chicken stock is a delicate dish, light in texture, so it requires a light, dry style lager. Roasted chicken is a richer dish with a slightly heavier texture and more fat, so it calls for a richer beer like a bitter or a malty lager. Barbecued chicken acquires smoky flavours so try the hoppy fragrance and bitter dryness of a pilsener. Put chicken in a creamy sauce, however, and it will take a more robust beer, like a strong, dark and fruity English ale, to cleanse the palate. Soy sauce chicken? Here the chicken is poached in a fragrant mother stock, spiked with soy, and so its colour dictates the beer accompaniment. Chicken cooked this way is darker fleshed, tending to pink rather than white. Why not a mellow, dry brown ale? Cooking with beer creates a natural flavour link, so try cooking chicken with a golden ale and mushrooms and serve the same ale beside it. Chicken tempura? Make a beer batter and serve a crisp lager with it, just as you would for fish and chips. Spicy food is where beer really comes into its own, because capsaicin, which is the active ingredient in chilli, is soluble in alcohol but not water. This means that beer's bitterness calms the taste buds, unlike water, and the bubbles lighten up the tongue, leaving you able to refresh your palate somewhat more! Green chicken curry? With such spicy, aromatic food think about an aromatic beer with some fruity characters to tame the chilli - a top fermented pale ale perhaps? The heavier, meatier pepper-infused flavours mean a heavier beer so try the dry, mouth-filling spiciness of an India pale ale, or even a dark ale to act like chutney. And to close? Well, a smooth rich stout makes a miraculous combination with chocolate! Ultimately, you are your own expert, so experiment by trying different beers and foods and, above all, have fun! |
Legendary Aussie gourmand Lyndey Milan gives B&B the inside word on how to pair beer with food.
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