A marriage made in heaven

During my first visit to Liverpool for a few years, I found the city not only spruced up in preparation for its Year of Culture in 2008, but also transformed, with waterfront buildings that once throbbed with industrial life turned into hotels, bars and restaurants.

But the droll Scouse sense of humour remains intact. It's a style that delights in trapping the unwary.

For example, Fiona Hornsby is known locally as "Fiona Fish 'n' Chips". When you ask why, the answer flashes back: "Because she's always in the papers!"

The reason why Hornsby makes the public prints with such frequency is that she wins prizes and plaudits for her cooking. She runs the Courtyard restaurant, part of a complex in Dale Street fronted by Thomas Rigby's, a Grade II-listed pub that forms part of the small chain owned by Okells, the Isle of Man brewery.

Last week Hornsby hosted a beer dinner at the Courtyard that was well attended, with a good sprinkling of media folk. A number of diners told me afterwards that they left with a greater appreciation of beer as a good dining companion and knowing a little more about its history, ingredients and styles.

There were also brewers present whose beers were on the table. They included a member of the Belot family from Belgium that runs the Du Bocq brewery and, from further afield, Sierra and Steve Grossman from California's Sierra Nevada brewery.

Du Bocq was founded in 1858 and is run today by the fifth generation of the family. Sierra Nevada is more recent: it is celebrating 25 years of brewing, a period that has seen it grow from a tiny micro using converted dairy tanks to a large commercial operation producing 800,000 barrels a year, which are sold in every state of the union.

Hornsby chose to have two beers with each course, a clever move designed to increase both conversation at the tables and the appreciation of the liquids in the glasses.

We started with a selection of cured meats matched by Budvar Dark and Du Bocq's La Gauloise Ambrée. The vegetarian alternative was candied aubergine spring rolls with a sweet chilli dip.

I opted for the veggie courses and recorded a dead heat between the two beers: the roasty chocolate character of Budvar and the spicy, bitter nature of the Ambrée both marrying well with the tangy dish.

The second course was shellfish terrine or three-tiered roasted vegetable terrine, matched by Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Du Bocq's wheat beer, Blanche de Namur. The Sierra Nevada beer is a world classic, booming with hop notes, but I found the spicy and tart fruit character of the wheat beer to be the better companion for the dish.

On to the main course: either chicken breast stuffed with dolcelatte cheese plus new potatoes with thyme and roasted Mediterranean vegetables, or caramelised onion and goats' cheese tart with the same vegetable support. The accompanying beers were Budvar Original, the Czech golden lager, and Morte Subite gueuze, a member of the rare Belgian style of beer made by "spontaneous" fermentation with wild yeasts in the atmosphere.

I am a great fan of gueuze, but on this occasion the sour nature of the beer did not go well with the dish. Budvar, on the other hand, with its gentle hops, biscuity malt and vanilla notes, formed a perfect marriage.

Both veggies and carnivores joined forces for sticky toffee pudding served with another Belgian beer, Liefmans Frambozen, a strong brown ale made with the addition of raspberries, and Deus, an 11.5% abv beer with Champagne yeast. Deus I found too perfumy to cut through the sweetness of the dessert, whereas the tart Liefmans hit the spot.

Finally, we had a German smoked beer, Schlenkerla Rauchbier, and Sierra Nevada's Bigfoot barley wine with a selection of English cheeses - again, a beery dead-heat, the smoky nature of the German beer going well with cheese but the big fruity, hoppy character of Bigfoot also blending well.

It was a memorable evening that helped raise the appreciation of good beer and food. Long may Fiona Hornsby continue to be "in the papers".