This friday constitutes a big shout-out to one of my favorite NPR shows: Splendid Table with Lynn Rosetto Casper. With respect to knowing your shit she’s like the Magliozzi brothers (Car Talk), except that you can’t, or shouldn’t, eat motor oil. Via a guest who wrote a book about being a completely insufferable beer snob (my birthday’s in August), Lynn has this advice for pairing beer with food:
Think of ale as red wine and lager as white wine. In other words, when red meat or any dish that you would normally pair with red wine is on the menu, select an ale to serve with it. Conversely, if the main course is fish or poultry, try a lager.
Hoppiness in beer = acidity in wine. Anytime you would seek a wine with high acidity, such as with spicy or oily food, choose a beer with significant hoppiness or bitterness. The more acidic you would want the wine, the hoppier you will want the beer.
Complement or contrast. Try to match foods to beers with complementary characters, such as a robust stew with a full-bodied ale. Or try a contrasting flavor, such as a crisp, refreshing lager with a heavy cream soup.
Keep the beer sweeter than the dessert. Nothing kills the flavor of a beer like the overpowering sweetness of a dessert, so try to keep the sugar contents of both beer and dessert balanced. (An exception to this rule can be made for chocolate, which pairs well even with dry stout.)
I would add one thing to this list: if you’re thinking about making moules frites, a Belgian tradition that amounts to a big pot of mussels cooked with onions and white wine and paired with bottomless thick-cut french fries with mayonnaise and mustard, then you basically have one choice: Leffe gold.
By far the best of the inexpensive Belgian ales, or the cheapest of the great Belgian ales, in true Belgian bars in the continent Leffe is what you’ll find conveniently served in you choice of a liter or (for small children) a half-liter. The Leffe line only goes up from there, with a good trippel-style dark ale and a concoction they call Radieuse which I can only describe as sunlight in a bottle, but not in the thin wheat-beer way. Indulge your snobbery if you can find it.
For today’s non-beer alternative, I’ve made some effort to answer a commenter’s question of what wine to serve with Thai food. Search me, but with a little searching I came across this discussion thread which seemed helpful. The consensus seems to be Pinot Noir or a dry Riesling depending on what you’re serving, but beware of tannins. The spiciness of Thai will exaggerate tannins and turn your heritage Merlot into a bottom-shelf Mondavi. In fact, with spicy food I wouldn’t worry about the cost or quality as much because in my experience you won’t be able to tell.
This site gives some good advice about cooking Thai food when you’re serving wine. Another site has this to say:
Pad Thai and piquant Thai dishes–
Thai food’s generally light-bodied, but the flavors pack a wallop. And almost every dish combines sweet, sour, salty and hot elements. Chilled, slightly sweet Riesling, especially from Germany, can be fabulous; also look for dry Gewurztraminer or a fruit-packed Sauvignon Blanc, perhaps from New Zealand.
In fact, with truly spicy food you’re usually better off with a good, light (NOT lite) beer. Beer’s coolness and carbonation offset the spiciness in ways that a wine won’t, and the carbohydrates will absorb capscicins which make spicy food ‘hot.’ That relief from the food’s heat then gives you more of an opportunity to enjoy the beer.
*** Update ***
Not to queer Tim’s excellent Beer-Blogging (this is John writing, btw), but currently I am drinking more box wine. Black Box Wine, to be exact, and this Shiraz is pretty damned tasty. Very fruity smell, a bright first taste, and a deep, rich finish. I like it.
Of course I am drinking it because a glass of wine a night is good for your heart.
FredW
Leffe is brewed by ImBev (formerly Interbrew) either the largest or second largest (depending on how you count) brewer in the world. Its main advantage is its easy to find, but there are much better Belgian beers, especially with food. Its more the “Michelob” of Belgian beers rather than the Yuengling. The Radieuse is the best of their brews, though (IMNSHO).
I have to disagree with you, slightly, on the mussels as well — Mussels made with gueze (a blend of sour, spontaenously fermented beers) is to die for.
There are a growing number of resturants in the US that do (either full time or ocassionally) “beer cuisine.” In Belgium they are fairly common.
On a recent trip to Switzerland I had a “beer fondue” that was amazingly good (and something I would never have thought of). You can replace the liquid in practially any receipe with beer and produce a good dish. Just don’t use bland, mass market beer. You wouldn’t cook with the wine guys on the street corner drink out of a paper bag? Any beer adverised on TV is the beer equivalent.
Kathy K
Personally, with Thai food (especially the spicier dishes), I’d leave the wine and go with a beer. And, I might add, that ‘hoppiness’ quote above does apply.
Kathy K
(In short – I agree about the beer, but disagree about the ‘light’)
srv
Uh, while you can find me rolling on the floor of the Toronado nearly every week, is Tim or PJ getting beer favors for weekly blogging?
If not, how about a ballon-juice group tour to Belgium? You know, education and research.
Freedom Fighter
Hey man, just wanted to say that I really enjoy your blog. I read about you in L.A. Weekly, Jan 6-12, can’t wait to hear more. I’m linking you from my blog.
-FF
tb
Drink icy cold Corona with this. Do something nice for yourself and make this recipe.
Pozole
The secret to this soup is in the preparation of the chili paste which gives this Pozole it’s characteristic color and flavor.
Here we prepare the paste with dried New Mexico chilies but feel free to experiment with Ancho, Guajillo and Cascabel chilies too.
Rinse and remove the stem end and seeds from:
8 to 10 dried New Mexico chilies, hot, mild or a combination of the two
Add chilies to a large bowl and cover with:
3 cups of boiling water
Submerge chilies in the bowl with a small plate and set aside for 30 to 45 minutes.
While the chilies are soaking, add to a large stock pot and sauté until translucent:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small onion
4 cloves of garlic, minced
Add:
1 to 2 pounds pork stew meat, cubed (I use pork shoulder)
chicken or vegetable stock, to cover
Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer until the pork is tender.
Add chilies to a blender and process along with just enough soaking liquid to produce a smooth puree, then pass the puree through a fine screen to remove any skin pieces and seeds.
Add to the stock pot:
the chile paste
1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 28 ounce cans white hominy, drained
salt to taste
Simmer until done, 30 to 45 minutes. (I suggest pureeing some of the soup and mixing it back in as a thickener)
Serve with:
finely diced white onion and cilantro
shredded cabbage
crushed red pepper flakes
also maybe tortillas, crumbled stinky mexican cheeze, sour cream
Geek, Esq.
I personally recommend the Ommegang breweries products. Better than Chimay.
Pooh
Dry German Riesling + Thai Food = Tasty goodness. Though Beer is probably better. (I’ve gone with the Pinot Noir as well, and that works, but ordering Pinot in a restraunt is such a nightmare for a dilletante like me that it might not be worth the trouble.)
kl
Phrase I never thought I’d see outside the comments at Balloon Juice: “One of my favorite NPR shows.”
nyrev
Guava wine is good with Thai food, but so is beer.
The Other Steve
You know what’s good with Thai Food?
Vodka!
Actually Vodka is good with anything, especially with more Vodka!
Callimachus
For Christmas, my sister bought us a big mixed sampler of German and Belgian beers. Among them were a few that were trying too hard, but most were excellent. But the one that knocked my socks off was called “Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier.” It’s from Bamberg, a pretty little cathedral town in centeral Germany, and its name literally means “smoke-beer.” And honest to god, in addition to being a great dark beer it had a flavor that suggested a good smoked meat. (Germanic root of “rauch” turned, in English, into “reek,” which has taken on a different but related meaning.)
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/7918/53502
I see they’ve even got a brewpub. I’ll have to look for it next time I’m lucky enough to get over there.
Martin Lindeskog
A spicy wine like Gewürztraminer is a good match with Thai food. Personally, I often drink tea together with Asian food. I prefer a glass of Lassi together with hot Indian food.
My favorite café & bar place has Leffe on tap. Here is a dip recipe by the owner.
Here in Gothenburg we have a new beer place called Delirium Café. Their goal is to have 2006 different beers this year. For more information on beer, check out Gus Van Horn’s post, I Must Return to Belgium.
Have you followed John Cleese’s wine tips?! ;)
All the Best,
Martin Lindeskog – American in spirit.
Gothenburg, Sweden.
Krista
We recently had a lovely combo: Riesling-Gewurtztraminer (sorry I left out the umlaut…after hitting Alt + every numerical combination I could think of, I gave up.) Wonderful with Thai food. Thanks for the input, Tim — I assume the commenter to whom you’re referring was me.
Leffe is lovely stuff. They serve it a lot in France, too…probably no point in France trying to get into beer, when some of the best beer is right next door.
Is it just me, or is Belgian/Dutch mayonnaise distinctly different from North American mayo?
baltar
No Pinot Noir with Thai food. That shouldn’t work. In fact, I’d argue no dry wines with Asian food (or at least, any Asian food with any sort of spicyness). Alcohol reacts to the “hotness” in food (I think they are called capucins, spelling anyone?), and makes spicy food flare up even more. Thus, for any form of spicy food (Thai, asian, mexican, whatever), you should find a fairly low alcohol wine (which are what German Riesling should be – I regularly find them down around 7% to 8% alcohol, which is about what the Belgian beers come in at). In addition, the German Rieslings tend to have some sweetness to them, and the sweetness contrasts nicely with the hotness.
If you don’t like Riesling, Alsatian Gewurtztraminer works well (it, too, tends to be off-dry, but higher in alcohol). Skip any Riesling or Gewurztraminer from California (they don’t have the right climate for it). A third alternative would be anything sparkling: Prosecco (Italy) or Cava (Spain) can be found for less than $10 a bottle, and tastes great.
J. Michael Neal
The first and second sentences here are incompatible. If you want Mexican beer that you can find in the States, go with Pacifico or Bohemia.
demimondian
Krista: Start->Run->charmap, copy and paste. I can learn right-alt 0232 and the like, but outside of a very few diacriticals, I just copy from the character map.
Dave Straub
Broadly speaking, this is probably fair advice. However, there are ales and lagers out there that certainly invert this equation. A saison, for example, is an ale, and it bright, crisp flavor and mouthfeel suit it much more to poultry and fish than to red meat. (Check out Hennepin by the aforementioned Ommegang brewery.) Darker and/or heavier lagers, such as doppelbocks or dunkels, pair better with stronger, redder meats than they do with fish and poultry, which they simply overpower. But of course, this is all just a matter of taste.
The Schlenkerla Rauchbier referenced by Callimachus is also a lager, and is probably the single most overpowering beer I’ve ever tasted.
Al Maviva
Might I recommend a flavored lambic beer with the mussels du brussells, such as a peche (peach) or kriek (cherry) or framboise (raspberry, I think, can’t tell berries apart). Lindemenns is a pretty good choice, and is usually readily available in stores with a good Belgian beer supply. Boon’s isn’t bad either.
On the rauchbier, I’ve had that, sometimes in great quantities, when I was stationed near Bamberg for a while. I actually pinched a couple nice clay mugs from the factory brewpub, Heller Trum, petty criminal that I am. It’s a love it or hate it relationship – if you like hickory smoked meat with little sauce on it, like dry ribs, or very lightly flavored Carolina barbecue, you probably have the right palate for it. On the other hand if you walk into a nasty little barbecue dive bar, and the first thought you have is “smells like a housefire” then it’s not for you. The rauchbier is great with peppery sausages and pretzels, like Nuernberger Bratwurst or weisswurst. It would also be good with a wood fired pizza.
Paddy O'Shea
Speaking of Yuengling and beers of dubious regional origin, what ever became of Olde Frothingslosh, “the pale stale ale with the head on the bottom and Miss Fatima on the can?”
Miss Fatima, of course, being none other than Pittsburgh dreamdate Fatima Yechbergh, considered to be the epitome of feminine charm in Western Pennsyvania.
http://www.rustycans.com/oldfroth.html
Stormy70
We have Pazole for our Christmas eve meal at my father’s domicile. We also serve it with lime and avocado and radishes.
Wonderful.
I do love a good Belgium beer. I had one (ok, four) from a sampler pack of beer that had a yellow label and I think it had llage on the label, but I don’t remember. I was not pouring it, my da was, so I missed getting the brand. This sounds like the place to ask the experts.
After four beers, my pitch game actually improved. I was unstoppable.
FredW
Since Schlenkerla Rauchbier and Bamberg as come up a couple times, I have to do a little promotion of my website on all things beer in Bamberg and the area around it http://www.FranconiaBeerGuide.com
Don’t beleive the hype about Munich — Bamberg is beer heaven. 70K people, 10 breweries. Another 50 breweries within a 20 mile radius.
Lynne
“Think of ale as red wine and lager as white wine. In other words, when red meat or any dish that you would normally pair with red wine is on the menu, select an ale to serve with it. Conversely, if the main course is fish or poultry, try a lager.”
Good tip, thanks. Now I just have to remember it correctly.
Gold Star for Robot Boy
For pairing beer with food, ask the experts at Beer advocate.
guyermo
I’m wondering what you all might think of the beer selection of my uncle’s restaurant “Whistle Binkie’s Olde World Pub” Right now they have 16 beers on tap, but the second location will have either 24 or 26.
Mary
Krista, I always thought that Belgian mayo was just regular mayo thinned with lemon juice, but I could be wrong.
Another Gewurz fan here. It can be hard to find one that isn’t too sweet, but I have had awesome wine from Cave Springs here in Ontario. We grow good ice wines and good Gewurz here.
mil0
ah, yuengling. delicious, and brewed so close to home you can almost smell the fermenting tanks. not to mention it’s cheaper than other beers that are not as good, but twice as imported. (i have a mild complusion that requires me to comment on any mention of my favored lager)
tb
The first and second sentences here are incompatible. If you want Mexican beer that you can find in the States, go with Pacifico or Bohemia.
With this soup, pretty much anything cold and Mexican will do. We wound up drinking Tecate. I’ll try the Bohemia next time, though. The pozole was incredible, as usual. Can’t recommend it enough.
tb
We have Pazole for our Christmas eve meal at my father’s domicile. We also serve it with lime and avocado and radishes.
Crap, how did I not have radishes on the table? Next time. The condiments are critical; especially the lime and cilantro.
Pooh
Mmm yuengling. I go to Pittsburgh once a year, and always have copious Yuengling…
Stormy70
Ok, about the Belgium beer I referenced above? The beer I was thinking about was the beer, Leffe. It was a blonde, though. I kind of skip a majority of the beer post, but I’ll know better next time.
Yes, except my taste buds really hate cilantro. I have to avoid it.
demimondian
Or Point Beer, brewed in Stevens Point, WI: “When you’re out of Point, you’re out of town.”
Krista
I’m sorry to hear that. I make homemade salsa every year, and every ingredient (except for the lemon juice and the sugar) comes from my garden. And fresh cilantro is rather essential.