Beer in your Menu

In the Mediterranean region, beer is mainly used as an ingredient in batter, especially when frying up a batch of thin zucchini or eggplant rounds. Squid dishes also frequently feature beer as a main ingredient. 



The yeast in the beer helps the batter to rise in the hot oil, thus forming a thick crisp protective layer around whatever is being fried so that it remains impervious to the oil. The beer also lends flavor, as beer batters are considerably sweeter than other batters made with flour, water, and baking powder.

Beer can be used as an ingredient in more than just batters. The national dish of Belgium is the carbonnade, a dish that is essentially onions braised in beer. There are beer soups and beer sauces, the latter of which is a French tradition that goes especially well with fish. Beer even has a place in bread-making. In fact, there are dozens of different recipes for beer bread.



Lending different flavors to sauces, soups, stews, and other dishes, beer is tremendously versatile. It can even be used as a liquid in steaming. Try beer-steamed mussels, for example. Or as a braising liquid, working wonderfully with a bevy of root vegetables, especially the sweeter ones, such as carrots. Its sweetness is known to complement spicy pumpkin soups, along with beef stews.



Other Delicious recipes that utilize beer
Greek giant beans baked with beer, bacon, honey and hot peppers
Beer fried mussels with skordalia
Quick beer bread with Kalamata olives, onions and herbs
Fish fillets fried in beer batter with spicy greek cabbage salad



When beer is in the glass, though, the foods meant to accompany it are many and varied. The Germans wield power over a whole range of sausages and salami meant to go specifically with beer. English brewpubs have their own cuisine, too. Almost anything can go with a good beer, from the garlicky Greek sauce, skordalia, to a pungent vinaigrette or a spicy tomato sauce. Just about the only food you should never enjoy with a beer are the foods that will bloat you even further: pasta, yeasty breads, risotto, and mashed potatoes. 

Though it is primarily a matter of personal taste, experts recommend certain food-beer combinations based on the fact that certain beers have the capability to tone down the sourness or bitterness of specific foods, while others can enhance the aromas and flavors found on particular dinner plates.

Here are some suggestions...


- Hors d' oeuvres can be pleasantly accompanied by a lambic beer

- Sausages match best with a dark colored Bavarian or Czech lager, or a weisse

- Fish go well with a pilsner or a golden lager, while seafood and crustaceans can be accompanied by a stout

- Chicken can be matched with a Lager or an Oktoberfest Lager

- Veal and pork are best matched with an Ale (Irish Red and Pale Ale are considered the best choices)

- Monastery type beers make an exquisite accompaniment to a variety of cheeses

- Framboise lambics go well with fruity desserts, while a chocolate or coffee stout would go best with a chocolate dessert