THE SECRET INGREDIENT WE ALREADY KNOW THAT BEER’S NOT ONLY GOOD IN A BOTTLE, BUT THERE ARE MORE WAYS TO USE IT IN FOOD THAN FRIED FISH BATTER, WRITES CLIFFORD ROBERTS.
The ingredient which gives beer its oth and bubble – carbon dioxide – is a great element in a batter for fish or onion rings.
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arousse Gastronomique is billed as “the World’s greatest culinary encyclopaedia” and it stretches to beyond 1 350 pages in the current edition. It’s a weighty tome – both in volume and in content and is a virtual food bible to all devotees of matters gastronomic. It still contains editorial which nowadays could be deemed politically incorrect since the world – and diners – have moved on, finding turtle soup and delicate songbirds (ortolan) morally reprehensible. It notes that in the 15th century salt cod was worthy of the finest tables while fresh sturgeon, cod and dolphin were reserved for the king. (Note that it doesn’t specify if this is indeed the dolphin – like Flipper of the TV series fame – or mahi-mahi or dorado which is called dolphin in Hawaii and Spain respectively. Apparently the confusion is because of the latter’s early scientific classification as being part of the dolphin genus.) Of course, salt cod swiftly became the food of all people because of its ability to keep rather than spoil in the days before refrigeration. And then this culinary bon mot (some might add, of course): “Frog-meat, which is no more than a tit-bit, is nevertheless easily digestible”. The section on frogs, covering several preparations over a page-long, goes on to describe the preparation of more than just the legs, in riveting detail. Strangely, beer as an ingredient is woefully neglected. The book acknowledges “[beer]
EDIBLE
|
BEER
is a refreshingly and slightly stimulating drink that has food value,” but lists only one food-related dish: beer soup, with a parenthesis indicating “German cookery”. Dilute ½ cup (150g) of light roux made of butter and flour with 1 ½ quarts (litres) of light beer. Mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Add 2 teaspoons (12g) of fine sugar and a very small pinch of powdered cinnamon, bring to the boil, then simmer for 25 minutes. Just before serving, thicken with 1 cup (2 decilitres) of double cream. Pour boiling into a soup tureen, over thin slices of toast. It’s probably true though: famous beer foods that jump to mind generally won’t be those to hail from France. Think of steaming beef pies made with stout (Guinness, especially); stews with the same, like Flemish karbonade; and, chocolate desserts like brownies and ganache. Forgotten the yeast for surprise bread-baking on your camping trip? Chuck in a can of lager instead. Then there was the craze of the lager chicken braaied slow and propped straight up over a half-can of beer. And what about good old beer-battered fish-and-chips? The serious folks at Scientific American write that “beer makes such a great base for batter because it simultaneously adds three ingredients—carbon dioxide, foaming agents and alcohol—each of which brings to bear different aspects of physics and chemistry to make the crust light and crisp.” The CO² helps spread the batter mix and contributes to the texture; the foaming agents assist with insulation and lend the gold-brown colour; and, the alcohol moderates the internal temperature and crisping the crust. Now you know. Still, many breweries with restaurants seemingly remain on the side-lines when it comes to beer-in-food. When asked, some choose to dip in, but only ever so slightly. The bistro at Devil’s Peak only currently offers olives in IPA with lemon, rosemary, garlic; and, beer-battered onion rings. J U L / AU G 2 0 1 9
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