12th April 2013
Summer 2009 - Game for a Beer
Finding a selection of game dishes and accompaniments to go with a bevy of beers proved a winning pairing formula in an experiment undertaken at Westminster Kingsway College.
Downing more than 20 different types of beer to find the best ones to drink with a variety of game meat, is a challenge for anyone. But nowadays, with leading restaurants and gastronomes getting into beer as a food accompaniment, it was a challenge worth taking.
Westminster Kingsway College chef lecturer Jose Souto was the powerhouse behind the experiment, supported by fellow chef lecturer Norman Fu, Spalding based UK Game Company and London based R&R Teamwork, an independent drinks agency. Almost a dozen took part including a number of chefs from London hotels such as Crown Plaza and Sheraton Park Lane, Rules Restaurant, plus regional chef owners of pub restaurants such as Mark Dorber from The Anchor in Walberswick, Suffolk.
Souto believes looking at how food is really produced from the wild and passing that knowledge to up and coming chefs is all important. However he admits he knew nothing about pairing beer with game. After tasting 40 beers, the organisers came up with a selection which they felt had an affinity with the food Souto and Fu’s team of student chefs were going to offer.
To discuss the flavours of beer and game and get a better understanding of what works best, a number of different species of game birds and animals – from partridge, duck, woodcock, pigeon and pheasant to venison, hare and rabbit simply pan fried and accompanied by a complementary sauce, was put forward to match the beer.
Birds appeared in their raw state first to show how they look once plucked and eviscerated before cooking. Morris Bond of UK Game says you don’t have to hang animals or birds for long. “Game has a natural flavour of its own. If you don’t hang it for too long you get a more natural flavour rather than a strong gamey flavour.”
Two or three days for rigor mortis to set in is time enough for hanging game, says Bond. “When an animal is stressed it releases adrenalin into the bloodstream which courses through the body when it’s about to be killed. When it’s like that it affects flavour. Enzymes in the gut also tenderise the meat. Nowadays we don’t need to hang it for a long time.”
Examples of pairings included breast of red legged partridge served with porcini mushroom cream sauce which had two contenders for a beer match – Manns 2.8% English brown ale’s “soft, sweet like brown gravy” taste went really well with the sauce while Brakspear Oxford Gold 4% Wychwood with its orange flavours was good with the meat.
R&R Teamwork’s Rupert Ponsonby’s theory is to match the intensity of the flavour of the food to the same in the beer – strong flavours working well together.
Pheasants at the beginning of the season are quite fat, and female birds have the preferred flavour for chefs, says Bond. Dealers however will give you any bird because otherwise they would not sell them, he adds. Pan fried breast came with a Normandy apple sauce and a new ale Blue Moon 5.4% American wheat beer, a spicy Belgian style brew with a hint of lavender and orange was a good mix with the apple and gave it a fresher taste.
urite. The amount of fat these birds have depends on the season but Souto recommends sealing them in a cold pan to get the fat out more effectively to produce a good amount of flavours in the pan as it heats.
Seasoned roast duck breast with an orange and lemon jus went perfectly with an 8% Belgian ale, appropriately called Kwak, that had “big, pure caramel flavours”.
Traditional hunting birds are making a comeback, says Bond. Wood pigeon however isn’t considered to be a classical game bird. It weighs around 250g and oven ready would cost around £2.50. Souto says chilli works well with it and it’s great in stir fries. It has very little fat and makes one portion. There is no season but the best time is September to March. Breast of pigeon served with a teriyaki sauce suited strong beers such as Snecklifter 5.1% and a Belgian brown ale with cherries called Liefmans Kriek 6%.
Roast crown of woodcock with mulled wine jus also went well with the cherry beer. Bond says woodcocks are connoisseur birds that he would sell to restaurants for £12-14 which in turn would sell on for as much as £50. “This is a truly wild bird and difficult to find and shoot. When cooked the meat needs to be quite pink.”
From birds to animals, and Souto says hare has suffered from bad recipes such as jugged hare. One recipe he recommends is roast saddle cooked on the bone to keep its shape and flavour. For this dish there was a red wine and chocolate sauce, and it was difficult to choose between Brakspear bitter, Cockerhoop with a tangy rich flavour and Old Thumper 5.6% with its big tango hop taste.
Dishes using venison included carpaccio with aged balsamic dressing that went well with a strong blond beer called Duvel 8.5% with its fresh fennel, green pear and clove flavours. Souto says carpaccio should come from the fillet not the loin because the meat is older and more digestible.
Ponsonby says beer and food matching allows you to showcase the cooking that some wines don’t, plus you can get good profit margins with beer. “You can make money from beer as you can with wine. Today you don’t have to have beer in a pint glass. You can offer interesting beers in a martini glass and charge a good price.”
Westminster Kingsway College chef lecturer Jose Souto was the powerhouse behind the experiment, supported by fellow chef lecturer Norman Fu, Spalding based UK Game Company and London based R&R Teamwork, an independent drinks agency. Almost a dozen took part including a number of chefs from London hotels such as Crown Plaza and Sheraton Park Lane, Rules Restaurant, plus regional chef owners of pub restaurants such as Mark Dorber from The Anchor in Walberswick, Suffolk.
Souto believes looking at how food is really produced from the wild and passing that knowledge to up and coming chefs is all important. However he admits he knew nothing about pairing beer with game. After tasting 40 beers, the organisers came up with a selection which they felt had an affinity with the food Souto and Fu’s team of student chefs were going to offer.
To discuss the flavours of beer and game and get a better understanding of what works best, a number of different species of game birds and animals – from partridge, duck, woodcock, pigeon and pheasant to venison, hare and rabbit simply pan fried and accompanied by a complementary sauce, was put forward to match the beer.
Birds appeared in their raw state first to show how they look once plucked and eviscerated before cooking. Morris Bond of UK Game says you don’t have to hang animals or birds for long. “Game has a natural flavour of its own. If you don’t hang it for too long you get a more natural flavour rather than a strong gamey flavour.”
Two or three days for rigor mortis to set in is time enough for hanging game, says Bond. “When an animal is stressed it releases adrenalin into the bloodstream which courses through the body when it’s about to be killed. When it’s like that it affects flavour. Enzymes in the gut also tenderise the meat. Nowadays we don’t need to hang it for a long time.”
Examples of pairings included breast of red legged partridge served with porcini mushroom cream sauce which had two contenders for a beer match – Manns 2.8% English brown ale’s “soft, sweet like brown gravy” taste went really well with the sauce while Brakspear Oxford Gold 4% Wychwood with its orange flavours was good with the meat.
R&R Teamwork’s Rupert Ponsonby’s theory is to match the intensity of the flavour of the food to the same in the beer – strong flavours working well together.
Pheasants at the beginning of the season are quite fat, and female birds have the preferred flavour for chefs, says Bond. Dealers however will give you any bird because otherwise they would not sell them, he adds. Pan fried breast came with a Normandy apple sauce and a new ale Blue Moon 5.4% American wheat beer, a spicy Belgian style brew with a hint of lavender and orange was a good mix with the apple and gave it a fresher taste.
urite. The amount of fat these birds have depends on the season but Souto recommends sealing them in a cold pan to get the fat out more effectively to produce a good amount of flavours in the pan as it heats.
Seasoned roast duck breast with an orange and lemon jus went perfectly with an 8% Belgian ale, appropriately called Kwak, that had “big, pure caramel flavours”.
Traditional hunting birds are making a comeback, says Bond. Wood pigeon however isn’t considered to be a classical game bird. It weighs around 250g and oven ready would cost around £2.50. Souto says chilli works well with it and it’s great in stir fries. It has very little fat and makes one portion. There is no season but the best time is September to March. Breast of pigeon served with a teriyaki sauce suited strong beers such as Snecklifter 5.1% and a Belgian brown ale with cherries called Liefmans Kriek 6%.
Roast crown of woodcock with mulled wine jus also went well with the cherry beer. Bond says woodcocks are connoisseur birds that he would sell to restaurants for £12-14 which in turn would sell on for as much as £50. “This is a truly wild bird and difficult to find and shoot. When cooked the meat needs to be quite pink.”
From birds to animals, and Souto says hare has suffered from bad recipes such as jugged hare. One recipe he recommends is roast saddle cooked on the bone to keep its shape and flavour. For this dish there was a red wine and chocolate sauce, and it was difficult to choose between Brakspear bitter, Cockerhoop with a tangy rich flavour and Old Thumper 5.6% with its big tango hop taste.
Dishes using venison included carpaccio with aged balsamic dressing that went well with a strong blond beer called Duvel 8.5% with its fresh fennel, green pear and clove flavours. Souto says carpaccio should come from the fillet not the loin because the meat is older and more digestible.
Ponsonby says beer and food matching allows you to showcase the cooking that some wines don’t, plus you can get good profit margins with beer. “You can make money from beer as you can with wine. Today you don’t have to have beer in a pint glass. You can offer interesting beers in a martini glass and charge a good price.”