MANY people accept without question that there is a complimentary culinary relationship between food and wine.
We all know that you should serve white wine with chicken or fish and red wine with red meat dishes. We know there are wines especially cultivated for dessert, or for enjoying with a starter. The relationship between wine and food has certainly helped it enjoy wider popularity with the British public, so the question has to be asked; if we are matching food with drink, why do we tend to assume wine is the only option? Why do we always believe our guests will want a fruity white or heart red with their meal, rather than a refreshing glass of Kronenbourg?
There is certainly no culinary reason why beer cannot be paired with food in the same time-honoured way as wine. Master beer sommelier at the Food and Beer Consultancy UK, Marc Stroobandt, explained that: “beer is a great match for food because of the complexity of its flavours, its ability to provide refreshment and to interact with many food flavours.”
Many experts argue that beer has the potential to be an even better match with all types of food than wine. Certainly, the sheer difference of ingredients that go into making beer, barley, yeast, hops, spices, nuts, fruits, vegetables and even chocolate mean that the vast array of flavours that can cut through the palate are vastly more complex than wine, which usually has a single grape as its chief ingredient.
Most plush hotels have wine sommeliers on hand to offer their expert opinion and advice, but the popularity of beer as an accompaniment to haut cuisine has seen a dramatic rise in the number of beer sommeliers across the globe. Many exclusive restaurants and food and drink festival now extol the many virtues of ensuring you match your beer to your dish of choice.
So, for the average person, how hard is it to get a beer to match your choice of food?
The answer is that it is surprisingly simple. If your dish is heavy on cheese for example, such as sandwiches, cheese salad or pizza, then almost any pale beer, such as Kronenbourg 1664 is the perfect choice. Sommeliers often claim that the fizz in the beer helps cut through the fat in the cheese, allowing for greater appreciation of its taste.
If you are having dishes that include a base of chicken, pasta or a variety of seafood then it is important not to overpower these delicate flavours with a heavy or stronger tasting beer. For delicately-flavoured dishes where the contrast of taste is paramount to the overall enjoyment of the meal, you should accompany this with a very light beer. Something like a Kronenbourg Blanc is ideal, as its gentle citrus flavour can often enhance the flavours of the dish without overpowering the delicate flavour.
The only exception to this is if your chicken, seafood or pasta dish comes with a heavy sauce that tends to overpower other flavours anyway, such as if you have a béarnaise or pepper sauce. In such circumstances, a stronger lager is advisable, with a number of darker, fuller-flavoured ales perhaps being a better choice than a lighter lager.
Indeed, this is a great rule of thumb to follow for all your food. The richer and heavier your food, then the richer and heavier your accompanying beer should be. Roasts for example go well with stouts and rich brown ales. Spicy food is best served with the beers produced in the same region, desserts are perfectly suited to fruity, lighter beers and some companies are now specifically brewing their own dessert beers to serve alongside chocolate or fruit-based puddings.
Wine may be refined, but make no mistake about it, as an accompaniment to haut cuisine, or even just a sandwich or freshly-made pizza; it is time to give a cheer as the era of beer is here.
