Beer with food week bulletin
The first Beer with Food Week takes place from 14 to 20 March, championed by the Morning Advertiser and PubChef magazine.
Beer with Food Week will help promote beer as a great accompaniment to food and aims to get pubs around the UK hosting special beer and food events and putting an extra focus on beer and food during the week.
The promotion will provide licensees with an opportunity to boost their beer with food sales by suggesting beers to match meals on their menus, getting their chefs to design new dishes to compliment the beers on offer, or holding a special beer with food dinner.
To get your creative juices flowing, Richard Fox looks at some interesting facts about beer with food:
l In the 1800s, beer was drunk with just about every meal. And while oysters and stout were very much the preserve of the working classes (oh lucky people!), Queen Elizabeth had set a fine example some years earlier by enjoying significant quantities of particularly strong ale with her breakfast.
l Belgian iambic fruit beers are a sublime partner for gourmet offal dishes, such as foie gras. The only wine that can offer a natural pairing to such delicacies is Sauternes, at twenty times the price and a bit more; beer is the logical choice.
l A good pilsner lager is honeyed, buttery and floral. It also has refreshing palate-cleansing properties. These qualities make it an ideal partner for spicy ethnic foods, while its cutting and cleansing powers make it a natural choice for oily fish dishes and fatty meats.
l Many Belgian trappist beers and French Bierre de Gardes can be aged for several years just like wine. They will develop highly-complex flavours and aromas and should be enjoyed with similarly powerful and often complex flavours of haute cuisine.
l Matching selected speciality beers with items on your menu can give your establishment an air of added choice,a USP, higher levels ofcustomer service, and a truly "go-ahead" gastronomic approach.
l By offering a special-ity beer specifically to accompany a starter or dessert, you can add 24% to your average customer spend: that is by customers taking that recommendation in addition to a bottle of wine, beer, spirits or cups of tea they may already be having with their meal. Bear in mind some speciality beers come in bottles as small as 250ml for individual single-course servings, or 750ml bottles for sharing.
Richard Fox is founder of the F&B Partnership, the first specialised food and beer consultancy in the UK, dedicated to making beer equal to wine in gastronomic importance. For more information visit www.fandbpartnership.com
