Pic(k) of the Week: Cheese with Trappists

Yours For Good Fermentables was recently press'd into service; mentioned, that is, photographically (with credit) in a broadcast story on beer-with-cheese pairing.



Beer-cookbook writer Lucy Saunders and cheese-writer Jeanette Hurt discussed the topic on Lake Effect, a "magazine program" of Milwaukee Public Radio station, WUWM 89.7, on 4 November 2015.

"Beer and cheese are fermented friends," Lucy Saunders said "And we are fermented friends, too," laughed Jeanette Hurt.

"There's nothing against wine and cheese pairings, said Saunders, "but one of the most interesting things is that beer and cheese have more of a similar profile of aromatic compounds."

"When I'm looking at wine and food pairings, and beer and food pairings (and beverage and food pairings, in general)," Hurt said. "I'm looking for that perfect marriage. By themselves they taste great, but together, they taste even better."

"Beer and cheese complement each other very well," she continued. "Beer is liquid bread, and milk is hardened milk, the makings of a sandwich in your mouth."

"Beer is bubbly," said Saunders. "The effervescence of the bubbles cleanses the palate of the cloying creaminess of the cheese."

The pair discussed the importance of food pairing 'bridges.'

"Foods and accouterments can bridge the cheese and the beer (or the cheese and the wine) to bring them together," Hurt said. "One of the bridges we're using is honey, which is an amazing accessory for cheese. Just a little bit drizzled is just so, so good, and it goes so well with the honey aspect of a beer."

"Also dried fruits," added Saunders, "and some of the spices like cocao nibs, and a dusting of pepper can really elevate the tastes of a cheddar or a creamy, really soft cheese."

And then there was this wonderful exchange on the spice of beer, the hops.

Hurt observed that, "The fragrance of the hops tends to be a little resinous, piney, and that citrusy note elevates the butterfat in cheese, and you get a really nice harmony going on with that."

To which Saunders replied, ""With the hops, you have the aroma and the aftereffect. When you swallow, which is really important in beer, you get that retro-nasal reverb. It's really delightful when you have a beer and cheese pairing, because there's a before, during, and after."

Retro-nasal reverb, indeed! Listen to Hurt and Saunders' entire discussion: here.


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About the photo

A beer sampling Balducci's Food Market (in McLean, Virginia, 9 April 2015), in which I served three Belgian Trappist ales (brewed by monks) with three cheeses.

• Westmalle Dubbel
  Served with Stilton cow's milk blue cheese (U.K.)
• Orval
  Served with Humboldt Fog goat cheese (California).
• Westmalle Tripel
  Served with Chimay Grand Cru washed rind cheese (Belgium).
  A Trappist cheese!

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• Pic(k) of the Week: one in a weekly series of personal photos, usually posted on Saturdays, and often, but not always, with a good fermentable as a subject.
• Commercial reproduction requires explicit permission, as per Creative Commons.


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