I went to my first beer and food pairing in November of 2008 and really loved the idea of matching food up with beer. Fast forward to a couple months ago and I made a little dinner for my family that centered around matching the food up with beer. I have become so drawn into the beer community as it is I guess it was just a matter of time before I was sucked into the world of food, and matching it with beer. This desire was fueled with my new found love for the Travel Channel, surfing the web for recipes that match with beer and even buying a book completely dedicated to beer and food pairing. Yeah I dove in head first and am not to sure if I’m in the deep end or not yet.
All of this purging of beer and food related items got me thinking, “I could do a beer and food pairing for my friends.” The jury is still out as to whether I can actually pull it off well but I sure as hell am going to try. For a few weeks I have mulled over what the menu should be for the event and after some discussions last night with my friend Paul I feel confident in what we decided on. It will be a private little get together at my house on August 22nd and here is the menu.
1st Course: Gorganzola salad with dried cranberries and apricop vinegerette dressing paired with Sierra Nevada Torpedo.
2nd Course: Cheese stuffed jumbo shrimp wrapped in bacon served with Saisonaise dipping sauce paired with Ommegang Hennepin.
3rd Course: Spicy chicken curry paired with Dogfish Head’s Midas Touch.
4th Course: Homemade chocolate cake paired with Great Divide’s Yeti.
I decided that we would also watch Beer Wars during the final course just for everyone to enjoy as I did my first time watching it last week, I’ll get to a review I promise.
All in all I think it will be a fun experiment and just over all good times. It will also be a great way to get going with my dream to open a resteraunt/beer bar in the future. Next weekend couldn’t be here soon enough.
7 Comments
Good Luck I think these events are pretty difficult to put together. Having to know both food and beer is a tall order. a pretty bold first course, sounds delicious. I’d be a bit wary about putting the Torpedo before the Hennepin, but if you have a “palette cleanser” between the two you’d probably be ok.
Here is an lesson learned from my pairing event:
August 12, 2009 at 12:25 pmhttp://www.simplybeer.com/blog/2009/05/11/homebrew-and-food-pairing-fundraising-event/
Great call! I’ll have to remember to provide something to clean the palette. Thanks!
August 12, 2009 at 12:29 pmLooks good Mike. I don’t know enough about the process to try it yet(and my four little kids might make it difficult)but I am practicing at home…I think I wrote a little while back on beer and cheese.
Either way, you have some lucky friends.
@simplybeer…great idea for charity! I used to direct a non profit and would have loved somebody to that for our group. Raising money is tough.
August 13, 2009 at 2:27 pmAmbitious! Some great beers in there. Particularly the Yeti and Midas Touch– though, if the curry is spicy that might blank out the lovelier notes in the Midas Touch. When I tasted that at the GBBF it struck me as almost a desert wine.
I love this idea– I would like to try it but am humbled by the project.
August 13, 2009 at 4:06 pmThe profile of Midas Touch says it goes well with spicy and Asian dishes so that is what I am banking on with it. I hope it pays off.
August 13, 2009 at 11:16 pmSounds phenomenal man. How did the Midas work out for ya?
August 22, 2009 at 7:06 pmEverything came out really good. I was very happy with it.
August 23, 2009 at 10:55 am