For the first time in its history, the Oktoberfest has been cancelled due the current coronavirus pandemic. But we can still celebrate it at home by cooking with beer. Maria Liberatti explores the new trends of beer with his guest Gary Monterosso, the guy you go to talk about beer, according to her. As well, she shows a delicious new theme recipe.
Beer rather than wine.
Recently in Italy, beer has become a more famous drink than wine. A few decades ago, this wouldn´t be even believable as Italians are very well-known for their quality wine. But now a days, beer is more consume in meals. Times have been changing, and Maria noticed this on her last trip to Italy where she saw people buying more beer than wine in groceries shops.
The sale of crafting beer has been rising, and cooking beer at home has become quite popular around the world as it is easy to do. Gary comments that he has seen the process of home brewing beer growing. He points out that new beer has come from New York where Italians brewers had been trying different recipes and adding indigenous ingredients such as chestnuts to try different tastings.
And this has not only been happening in New York, there are beers created all over the world like Belgium, Czech Republic, England and Poland. There even has been a new Mexican crafted beer; Gary believes is very good of tasting.
Beer tasting? A new trend?
Is it now a new thing to set out your own beer tasting? Maria asks Gary about this new idea and what tips does he have to give. For starters, it is a new concept to do a beer tasting instead of wine, and it can have its similar ways to do, but as well there are some different approaches to take.
There could be two methods to do a successful beer tasting as Gary explains from his experience. “I have my own beer cellar which may shook some people,” Gary comments as he starts explaining the first one. It can be a vertical tasting like wine. This means tasting the same beer only from different years up to two or three beer brands and see how different they taste. “Now a days, it can be done. Beer has been evolving in time,” Gary said.
The other method is by style. For example, using 5 different brands of brown ale and compare it different taste; the brewing could have been different for each brand.
Gary insists on working your way to the least to the most aggressive flavor beer. This is because then if you try a hoppy beer first, then you won´t truly taste the rest of them. It is better from light beer to a bolder taste beer. Now, there is the IBU (international bittering unit) which you can use to have a rough hint on how the beer should taste and helps a lot in the ordering of lighter to tough beer. There are websites to find it, and Gary highly recommends doing so.
Now, Maria mentions there could be snacks as in wine tasting, but Gary lets her down by mentioning his book “wine drinkers split but beer drinkers swallow”. Beer tasting is not the same as wine, and Gary says in his tries at the university he works, he always gives a small amount, not drink the full beer. Now paring food with beer is another subjective context.
The better way to do it is to find a compatible match, don´t want the food or the drink to overpower the other. For example, Gary found out that you can have pizza with a white lagger as pizza is a complicated dish, but the lager is just a simple beer. It doesn´t have to be that complex.
Home brewing, new way to start
As mentioned before, home brewing has become more recognized with the years, and Maria understands that some people who are starting to brew don´t really understand the full details of it. There is a lot to do to create a good decent beer.
But as well, it is fascinating how there are new creations like Americans who “have their own slang when it comes to create new beer, they are not lock in a recipe, they change things, add little different things and see how they play along,” Gary explains on the new ways of brewing.
For example, the Belgium ales, the American change it a little by adding local ingredients and made the taste a bit different. It is the golden age to make beer according to Gary as things are changing constantly.
Maria brings us with a new delicious pasta dish she tried with beer. And here is the amazing recipe.
1 lb fusilli pasta
½ cup cream
1 lb mushrooms (cleaned, stems removed, sliced)
1 clove garlic
1 cup beer
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons broth (beef, chicken or vegetable)
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated or shaved
Place olive oil and garlic in saute pan over medium heat, cook till garlic starts to turn golden. Add mushrooms and saute till tender. Add cream and broth, Maria likes it better with vegetables instead of beef or chicken. Stir for a time and let simmer on low for three minutes, then add beer and continue to simmer, stirring every so often until sauce is thick and a creamy consistency.
Meanwhile, cook fusilli till al dente. It is recommended to follow the directions on the package of the pasta as the manufactures know better. Cocking as the term you like it. Serve topped with mushroom/beer sauce and top with grated cheese. And serve it with a glass of the same beer you used.
Now, who is missing Oktoberfest when you have your own dish with beer you cook?
Written for: Maria Liberatti blog, November, 2020
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