While the English hold the crown for low
strength but high flavour session beers, the American’s excel at highly hopped
aromatic pale ales and the Germans make a point of their ‘pure’ lagers, the
Belgians refuse to be ‘pigeon holed’ by style instead brewing a staggering
range of fruity, spicy, strong, original, idiosyncratic ales that are often
unique rather than part of a wider style. The broad range of robust artesianal
Belgian beers tends to make great accompaniments to rustic Belgian
cuisine. One very unusual characteristic
of the Belgian brewing industry are the 6 Trappist Monasteries who brew and
sell beer to fund their Abbeys and the charitable works they undertake. The
largest of these Trappist breweries is the Bières de Chimay at the Scourmont
Abbey in the south of Belgium.
Chimay brew three beers for sale and as is customary amongst the Trappist
Brewers one low strength beer called Dorée for the Monks to drink. The three that the outside world get to drink
are identified by the colour of the label.
- Chimay Red is the ‘small’ beer of the
pack clocking in at 7%abv and offering up berry fruit aromas and a peppery
yeast note. It makes a good accompaniment to rich meat dishes such as Beef Carbonade
or Lapin A La Kriek. (see recipes below)
- Chimay White is a pale beer with a bright
hop character, Muscat
like fruit and the spicy Chimay yeast note clocking in at 8%abv. Chimay White
makes a fantastic accompaniment to seafood dishes like the classic Belgian fish
stew Waterzooi or a platter of grilled mussels. (see Recipes below)
- Chimay Blue clocks in at 9%abv and is
intended for cellaring. When young Chimay Blue has the classic peppery fruity
aroma from the house yeast and a sweet malt accented palate. As the beer ages,
the fruit character deepens and rounds out taking on port wine like raisin
notes with an incredibly smooth finish. Chimay also produce washed rind cheeses
which unfortunately are not imported into New Zealand. Try Chimay Blue with
one of the fantastic local washed rinds like Over the Moon Galactic Gold, Te
Mata Irongate or Kapiti Ramara.
I cellar my own Chimay Blue as I prefer the
beer with some age on it, however for those with less restraint there will be a
unique opportunity to taste and buy bottles from the 2006, 2007 and 2008 Vintages
at the Regional Wines and Spirits Belgian Beer Festival on Saturday the 29th
of May. There will also be a host of other Belgian beers available to taste and
purchase, a range of locally brewed Belgian beers available on the Fill Your
Own, some Belgian cuisine to match, a give away or two and Regional Beer
Consultant Geoff Griggs, Beerforce’s Peter Wenman and Regional Beer Specialist
Kieran Haslett-Moore will be on hand to provide some wisdom.
The
Following recipes come from the Belgo
Cookbook Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1997 with some modifications for the
Kiwi cook.
Carbonade Flamande
(Flemish Beef Stew)
Serves 6
This dish is traditionally made with a
Flemish sour Brown Ale like Liefman’s Goudenband. However as this beer isn’t
regularly available in NZ (and is a bit special to cook with!) I have adapted
the recipe to use a New
Zealand brown ale with some cider to give it
acidity.
1.5kg stewing steak cut into large chunks
500ml Brown Ale (Founders Generation)
200ml cider (Invercargill Nally’s Cider)
2 tablespoon peanut oil
25g butter
25g brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
Salt and pepper
3 tablespoon flour
2 tablespoon tomato puree
125g pitted prunes sliced
400ml veal or beef stock
1 bouquet garni or a stick of rosemary and
a bay leaf tied together
1-2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tart apples (Cooking apples if you can
find them or Granny Smiths)
Marinate the meat in 300mls of the beer and
all of the cider for up to 3 days. Lift the meat out of the marinade, reserving
the liquor.
Heat
the oil and butter in a large, heavy based frying pan, add the meat, sugar and
nutmeg and cook over a medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until the meat is
well browned you might have to do this in shifts. Using a slotted spoon
transfer the meat to a casserole and season with salt and pepper. Stir the
flour into the oil and butter and cook until well browned, then stir in tomato
puree, prunes, veal stock, bouquet garni and the beer & cider marinade.
Bring to the boil skim the fat and then pour over the meat. Simmer very gently
until the meat is tender, about an hour.
Stir
in mustard and remaining beer, then taste and adjust the seasoning. Peel, core
and quarter the apples, add to the casserole and cook for 5-10 minutes until
the apples are tender. Serve hot.
Lapin A la Kriek
(Rabbit in Cherry Beer)
Serves 4
2 rabbits (or 1 whole chicken if you are
squeamish about eating Bugs!)
2 carrots sliced
2 onions sliced
2 bay leaves
10 peppercorns
250ml of Kriek (Boon Kriek or Timmermans
Kriek)
2 tablespoons of flour
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons peanut oil
15g butter
400g pitted cherrys in natural juice
Cut the rabbit into pieces and use the
trimmings to make stock, with one carrot, 1 onion, 1 bay leaf, 5 pep