Beer Food from Australian Chefs

At the end of the day, a beer is what most chefs reach for. After long, hot, stressful hours at the stoves, it's cold, fizzy and satisfying.

But how many of them cook with beer or think about matching the flavours in their dishes with different beers?

Denis Sammut of Republique Brasserie actually prefers to use beer rather than wine in many of his favourite dishes. Describing one of those, a char-grilled eye fillet marinated in stout beer, he says "dark beer tastes better than wine, it is more perfumed and delicate. As a marinade, it doesn't kill the meat flavours the way that wine can."

Originally from Brittany, a port in France where beer drinking predominates, he loves the flavours of Crown and Cascade and enjoys them both in, and with food.

Republique Brasserie will feature a special Beer Menu throughout December with four dishes using beer in the cooking and with which Denis suggests drinking the same beer. As well as the marinated eye fillet, mentioned above, there will be Tasmanian mussels with bacon, chilli and lime cooked in mariniere of Victoria Bitter. The saltiness of the mussels and bacon work well with VB's malty nose and bitter hop finish.

Crayfish à la nage (Crown Lager broth) with asparagus, cucumber and chervil. The creamy fruitiness and crisp clean finish of the lager are good with crayfish and other rich seafood. The lager is used again in the batter for crepes filled with a pistachio and mascarpone cream.

Jeremy Strode of Pomme (now, 2001, at Langtons) prefers Coopers Sparkling Ale in the batter for his whiting, a luncheon favourite at the South Yarra restaurant. But the beer dish which is closest to his heart is Apple Brioche eaten with the Belgian Chimay Blue 1997, a traditional bottle conditioned beer made by Trappist monks. Like Coopers Ale it goes through a secondary fermentation in the bottle that carbonates the beer and leaves a residue of yeast cells. Pomme's sommelier, Patrick Epstein, describes its flavour as "five spice, cinnamon with a floral, spiced nose from the hops. Its high alcohol content (9%) makes for a warm and rounded finish which combines well with the apple brioche."

This brioche is part of the Pomme (French for apple) Granny Smith dessert trio which Jeremy has developed as a signature dish for the restaurant.

Andrew Blake of Blake's (and Stella) is known for matching beverage flavours to his dishes. At both restaurants wines are suggested with every dish and, occasionally, beers. He is also a fan of the "heavy caramelised hop flavour"of Chimay with food but goes for stronger stuff, recommending a Red Thai peanut kangaroo curry with coconut rice.

Coopers Sparkling Ale provides a rich robust accompaniment to Blake's rice noodle cannelloni of hot and sour oxtail with coriander-peanut pesto. Another beer which he recommends a lot with seafood is the Japanese Asahi Dry which currently is matched with pepper seared tuna sashimi with chick pea blinis and wasabi yoghurt.

Beers and Asian flavours have long been popular but are not so often thought of in the context of the heavier meat flavours. Venison Curls wrapped in wild peppercorn leaves (slivers of venison eye fillet wrapped with Vietnamese mint, skewered and pan-fried) is a dish which Beh Kim Un, chef of Madam Fang and Isthmus of Kra, recommends with the "crispness"of Carlton Cold which "highlights the grassy taste of the venison"and the "maltose and coriander sauce matches the slightly bitter malt flavour of the beer".

Beh Kim Un also recommends the Asahi Dry with the restaurant's Oyster Passion (lightly grilled oysters in a terracotta plate with lemon grass lime and Thai basil dressing). For the festive season, his Pepper Chicken Bon Bon (coriander minced chicken with crushed pepper, wrapped in bean curd sheets and then twisted to look like a Xmas cracker) 'pops' well with the smoothness of Heineken.

At O'Connells, Greg Malouf, has chosen six of his Middle Eastern inspired dishes to serve with the Lebanese Almaza beer. He says that it's fruity with a little sweetness, but still quite fresh and crisp and marries well with Duck Sambousak (Lebanese crest shaped pastries stuffed with meat, pine nuts and pomegranate molasses); Walnut falafel with watercress salad and whipped goats cheese; Oysters in chickpea batter with artichoke leaf salad; Malouf's Brik à l'oeuf; Barbecued squid with cured salmon fritters and a Middle Eastern hot green sauce or with Kofta Tajine with a cracked egg, pumpkin and rose water yoghurt. Malouf says that sweet spices, salty and chilli flavours all work well with this beer.

Next week we'll be talking more about matching beer and food flavours and announcing a competition which could win you a year's supply of CUB beer plus a copy of Mietta's Eating in Drinking in Melbourne. There will also be the opportunity to win lunches for two people at Blakes Southbank; Madam Fang and Republique in the city; Isthmus of Kra, South Melbourne; Pomme, South Yarra.

See also this piece on matching food and beer.