The Triangle

Issue date: 3/14/08 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: MCT Campus

Normally, when one thinks of beer food, all that comes to mind are peanuts, awesome fries and nachos. Not that there's anything wrong with that, except there's a misconception that beer is only meant for this lowbrow fare. In fact, a good beer can be found to complement any dish. Then again, it works the other way, too.

Given a beer, a master chef can create a dish that fully accentuates the flavors, aromas and looks of the beer. Enter the fourth annual Brewer's Plate. For this charity event, 21 different Philadelphia restaurants were given a different local craft beer to prepare a dish around. The result was marvelous. It was a great showcase for the breweries and restaurants, but even better for the event's patrons, who got an incredibly hedonistic experience.

The food was great and the beer matched well. Sometimes, the food outshined the brews, like in the case of Iron Hill's brown sugar roasted pork loin outclassing their abbey dubbel. Sometimes, the beer took center stage, like Dogfish Head's Midas Touch being far tastier than Fork's shrimp ceviche. Still, a few places got it right. First was General Lafayette Inn & Brewery's "Beeramisu," an otherwise traditional tiramisu made with their Chocolate Thunder Porter, accompanied with said beer. But the best pairing of the night by far was Southwark's mini pretzel, ham and egg salad sandwich matched up with the brand new Philadelphia Brewing Company's Rowhouse Red Ale. It might sound a little strange, but the beer-cured ham reflected the beer's crimson hue nicely and the buckwheat pretzel dough and egg salad matched up perfectly with the beer's rustic earthiness. There were a few other stand outs as well. One was Franklin Fountain's root beer float, made with beer flavored ice cream. It was served up by an old-timey mustachioed soda jerk (I don't know why they call these guys jerks; they are usually really nice guys). Another was Lancaster Brewing Co.'s Strawberry Wheat Ale, a refreshing pale ale that smells, and tastes, exactly as its name suggests.

I always try to suggest a food pairing when I do a beer review. It's not hard to imagine what you would like to eat with a beer as you sip it. It is a largely personal thing, so the No. 1 rule is to drink what you want. For example, if you are craving a Kolsch, it doesn't matter if you order a steak or a salad, it's going to taste best with that Kolsch. There are a few guidelines that anyone can keep in mind when trying to make a pairing. There are classic beer-food pairings, like bitter with spicy, sweet with dessert, or dark beer with dark chocolate. Like matches with like; however, opposites also attract. So while it makes sense to pair a chocolate porter with tiramisu, it also makes sense to pair the sweet beer with a savory steak. Also, as with wine, think about where the beer style originates. For example, a hearty crock of Belgian mussels goes perfectly with a Belgian strong ale.

The Brewer's Plate event is important for a few reasons. First, it is a charity event for White Dog Community Enterprises. Their aim, through their Fair Food initiative, is to help bring affordable, locally and humanely grown food and produce to the masses. Second, it shows that beer belongs next to that fancy dinner plate just as much as wine.

Next time you are at one of Philly's finest restaurants and you are offered the wine list, ask for the beer list. If it's full of junky beer, order a water in defiance. If it has craft beer, think about having one with your meal instead of wine.

What can I say? You might find that the beer can be even more satisfying - and a lot cheaper - than a good glass of wine.

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