Food & Beer matching article.
By John Krüger
(First published in Beer & Brewer magazine in 2012)
Michael Weldon
Michael Weldon is instantly recognisable as a prominent contestant from the 2011 series of the hit TV cooking show Masterchef. Since his time in the limelight Michael has been honing his skills, including working with Coopers Brewery to work on matching some of his custom dishes to their range of beers. Michael gives Beer & Brewer exclusive access to some food matching combinations to a range of his favourite beers.
Coopers Celebration Ale – “I hadn’t tried this beer when I was working on developing the range of recipes for Coopers because they were still working on it. It’s got a freshness with the herbal and floral aspects of the hops. This beer would be great with a roast chook or fish. Something summery that’s been marinated with lemon and parsley. A salsa verde would add another dimension as well.”
Kronenbourg – “I drank a heap of this when I was in the UK. There’s a time and a place for a good lager. I can handle a session on these. These would be good with a first course of antipasto with loads of eggplant and artichoke. It’d go wicked with Rosemary.”
Budějovický Budvar – “Great stuff. This could go from a BBQ beer to a dinner beer. It’d be a good replacement for a glass of Chardonnay. It replaces the oily weight of Chardonnay with beer because there’s enough bitterness to do the job.”
Tongerlo Prior Tripel – “This Tripel would make a great after dinner beer. Imagine some goats cheese drizzled with honey and sprinkled with some fresh thyme. Slightly warmed up and served on some toasted sour-dough. The honey aspects of the beer would match really well. A young tangy goat’s cheese like Le Petit Prince from Barossa Valley Cheese Co would be ideal.”
Schöfferhofer Kristall Weizen – “The wheat flavours are almost earthy. I’d have this with a schnitzel with mushroom sauce. The weizen and mushrooms are a good match. I wouldn’t want to waste too much, but because of the lower bitterness, a bit of the beer in the sauce would be great. Earthiness and sweetness goes well with the crunchy crumb too.”
Charles Quint Blonde/Keizer Karel Blond – “This is another dessert beer. It’s got a honeycomb buttery quality. It’d be great with a caramel sauce. Anything with that buttery kind of sweet dessert flavours of caramel would match with that sweetness in the beer.”
Clausthaler Classic – “It’s only 0.5%abv so they’ve really pumped up the malt and bitterness to compensate. Don’t laugh, but the low alcohol would actually make it work as a beer sorbet. It’s got the flavor to work and the lack of alcohol would ensure that the sorbet would actually freeze properly.”