Beer with food - Pour relations

Using beers that match your chosen cooking method will give extra depth to all the other ingredients.

 If you think cooking with beer is the culinary equivalent of calling unmade beds "art", then think again. Escoffier, a 19thcentury gastronome coined the term "cuisine à la bière" for dishes cooked with beer. And what better way to illustrate beer's gastronomic credentials than to cook with it? The prevalence of herbal, spicy and fruity flavours can give an added depth and interest to just about any dish. The concept of using poor-quality booze in cooking is now as obsolete as utilising poor-quality produce. The quality of every ingredient adds to the overall result. And, let's face it, if the ingredient has no flavour to start with, how is it going to impart any quality to the finished dish? So, let's look at how some different cooking methods lend themselves to different beer styles.

 Marinating​This is for meat, fish and poultry. As far as meat is concerned, beer is high in tenderising enzymes, so fruity, malty ales are wonderful for overnight marinades for such cheaper but tasty cuts as shank, shoulder and flank. Zesty wheat beers will add interest to fish and poultry, particularly when complemented by herbs, star anise and citrus fruit.

 Slow cooking​This covers such methods as braising, casseroling and roasting. Use big-flavoured English ales or Belgian Trappist or abbey beers for maximum flavour benefit. Intensity of beer flavour can be tempered by mixing with stock or water. The resulting cooking liquor also serves as a full-flavoured, readymade sauce.

 Deep-frying​Beer makes fabulous batter. From richly-flavoured beer batter for fish to a light tempura for vegetables, beer will add taste and texture. A good splash in the Yorkshire pudding mix in place of some of the milk should be de rigueur - just make sure it's a Yorkshire ale for authenticity.

 Baking​Beer is often referred to as liquid bread. Live yeast in bottle-conditioned beers, can help add not only flavour, but a lift and lightness to cakes and breads.

 Salad dressings This is one of the easiest and most rewarding ways of using beer in food. The Lambic fruit beers of Belgium are perfect with their high acidity; vinegar can be substituted for these beers. They also have the distinct advantage of natural fruitiness. These beers can be reduced without risk of concentrating bitterness, and then added to crème fraîche for a creamy dressing for warm salads of pigeon or chicken livers.

 Poaching​Why just poach in water when you've got a range of herbal beers to choose from? Coriander-infused wheat beers are fabulous for fish, while their clove-like spiciness makes them perfect for poaching fruit. A dash of porter in water adds a real point of interest when poaching eggs.

 Steaming​Why steam with water when you have the opportunity to impart subtle flavour variations to so many different foods? Once again, use wheat beer for steaming vegetables and fish for Asian dishes, or even a German smoked beer for some Bavarian exoticism.

 Desserts​Beer is a marvellous addition to desserts. Cooking is all about balance - and the bitter or sour qualities of beer are an ideal foil for the sweetness that desserts have by definition. Try adding a little abbey beer to a chocolate or tart, a slug of wheat beer to a stock syrup, or barley wine to the Christmas pudding.

 This shows the variety of cooking methods that lend themselves to beer. The variations that can be achieved within each category are endless. Your imagination is the only limiting factor. As far as relative amounts are concerned, this is dependent on method. For slow cooking, pints are the order of the day; for desserts, dressings and batters, it may be no more than a dessert or tablespoon, while a dash of malty ale in a pea and ham soup just before serving can lift it into new realms of flavour.

 10 Food and beer matches​

 Wheat beer​Malaysian chicken laksa:​ This dish oozes the fragrant flavours of south-east Asia: lemon grass, lime, ginger and coconut. It's creamy and zesty. The coriander and curaçao orange peel-infused wheat beer will maximise those flavours, as well as refreshing the palate after each mouthful of this inherently spicy dish.

 Poached salmon with hollandaise sauce:​ A classic dish brought to life by a wheat beer accompaniment. The lemony freshness of the beer is a perfect marriage with the fish, while the light carbonation cuts through the oiliness of both fish and sauce.

 Trappist beer​Braised lamb shank:​ Slow-cooked in beer with caramelised vegetables and bay leaf, this dish packs a powerful punch. When supported by the full-flavoured complexity of a Trappist ale such as Chimay, the flavours are even more intense. Try adding the beer to the braising liquor.

 Slow-roast belly pork:​ Belly is one of my all-time favourite cuts of meat; when cooked long and slow it melts in the mouth. It's got an intense sweetness which is perfectly balanced by the bittersweet beer, while the hoppiness and carbonation cuts perfectly through the fattiness of the meat.

 IPA​Chicken curry:​ Originally brewed to keep during long trips to India, India Pale Ale is traditionally high in hoppy bitternes, with a full malty palate. It's a perfect accompaniment for spicy curry, being refreshing and having the boldness to stand up to such intense spiciness.

 Seared scallops with pancetta:​ There are not many fish and meat combinations that work well, but this is one of them. The sweetness of the scallops contrasts perfectly with the bitterness of the beer. The caramelisation when the scallops are seared matches the caramel notes of the beer. Cured meats and robust ales are a classic combination.

 Pilsner​ Sushi:​ It's no coincidence that the Japanese produce some fine cutting lagers - and generally drink them with their traditional sushi diet. A good hoppy lager will cut through the oily fish without interfering with the delicate flavours.

 Peking spicy duck:​ Crispy, caramelised duck skin is one of life's great foodie moments. Pilsner cuts through the fat and refreshes the palate, allowing the next mouthful of food to taste as fresh and new as the first.

 Fruit beer​ Seared pigeon:​ A triumph of flavour over cost. Use the bones for stock, de-glaze the pan with a Kriek or Framboise and you have one of the great food-and-beer combinations in minutes, for just a few pence.

 Chocolate tart:​ Well, anything with dark, Belgian chocolate will do the job really. This is about as good as dessert beer combinati ons get.

 Bière des Gardes​Duck confit:​ We don't think of France as being a craft-brewing nation, but these beers from Normandy are as beautifully balanced and crafted as the finest Burgundies. Their inherent clove-like spiciness is the most perfect match for the slow-cooked confit - particularly if served with white beans, garlic and onion.

 French cheese:​ Unpasteurised creamy Brie and Camembert are wonderful, but for the ultimate cheese-and-beer combination, go for Vacherin Mont-d'Or. This cheese has the consistency of clotted cream and a richness to match. The beer is just the perfect foil and adds that authentic farmhouse flavour.

 English ale​Roast beef and Yorkshire pud:​ Just about as good as it gets on the food-and-drink front. Sweet roast meat compares with the caramel flavours of the beer, while Yorkshire pudding and Yorkshire ale were just created to be consumed together. Enjoy!

 Pea and ham soup:​ one of my favourites - particularly when the soup is finished with a little beer. Again, we have the wonderful counterpoints of sweetness (from the peas) and the bitterness of the beer, while the ham just sets off the whole combination.

 Old English ale​Char-grilled steak:​ Those dark