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| One of the home brews we tasted on Friday |
My friend had 6 beers ready for tasting, which meant I really had my work cut out for me!! The majority of his beers (descriptions are in the previous beer post) were expected to have nutty, bready, or caramel undertones. So to match these I made candied almonds and caramel pecan shortbread. I knew the candied almonds would work with any of those beers. They were not too sweet and I had toasted the almonds to give them the depth of roasting that I thought would cut through the taste of the beer. The caramel pecan shortbread I thought would work well with the beers that had bready flavor. I had hoped the caramel and roasted pecans would bring out some of the character of the beers that maybe would not have been as pronounced otherwise.
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| A couple of the home brews on tap |
My bigger fears lay within the lighter beers which were being sampled. For these I thought chocolate covered candied oranges would complement the citrus notes in the beers and the thin layer of chocolate would contrast with the beers. I started these a month ago--I sliced oranges from my parents' tree in the backyard and let them soak in super-saturated sugar syrup for about 30 days, then dried them out and coated them with chocolate. I have made these before and I like to offer them at Christmas, so it was a treat getting to eat one in the spring!
The one that made me MOST nervous was a brew with spruce and honey. My friend mentioned that it was not expected to have a sweet finish. And the spruce, wow. I initially went to honey, pine nuts, gin? I had absolutely no clue what would complement, cut or contrast a beer with spruce. Or honey, for that matter. What did I make, you ask?? Baklava. Not just ordinary baklava. I chopped almonds and added a touch of cinnamon. I layered the delicate phyllo dough generously with butter, filled it with the almonds and cinnamon, and baked it for an hour and some change. The super-saturated sugar syrup that was used to make the oranges was used in this recipe. I boiled it down til it thickened up, then cooled it and stirred in some honey. I poured it over the freshly baked baklava and let each layer soak up the orange and honey-laced syrup.
When the bf and I arrived after walking a couple of blocks in the San Diego drizzle, desserts in hand, the group had already begun tasting. What was next? The honey and spruce beer. "Which one goes with this one??" they asked. "Baklava," was my reply. I had my reservations about this pairing, but now was as good a time as any to bring out the desserts and laissez les bons temps rouler! As I tasted the beer and then took a bite of the baklava, it was not what I expected. The reaction around the room echoed my sentiments. The small studio with over a dozen people immediately fell silent as we all relished in the flavor of the beer and the after-effects of the orange and honey dancing on the tongue, complementing this beer PERFECTLY. Everyone in the room was reveling in the beer and baklava. At the risk of sounding over-the-top and perhaps a tad cheesy, it was more than just beer and dessert. It was an experience. The pairing I was afraid of most turned out to be the best pairing of the evening.
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| Desserts (in the background) |
We tried the rest of the beers, which went well with the nutty and sweet combinations. We chatted about work, about beer brewing, about life. We listened to music and some people danced. It was lots of fun. We didn't stay long, it had been a long day for both me and the bf. But I was very inspired by the fact that it not only was possible to pair Beer AND Sugar, that it was amazing! You can be sure that I'm ready and willing to do it again soon!!
NOTE: A quick "Thank you!" to my co-worker Mike C. for the pics.
