You will be pleased to learn that beer can be paired with almost any dish, writes Charlotte McDonald-Gibson.
Tim Ferket is clearly wary of throwing me in at the deep end. There may be more than 100 beers on offer at his restaurant and an extensive menu of hearty Belgian cuisine, but he begins by offering me a glass of ale and a bowl of crisps. Having travelled to Antwerp to learn about pairing food and beer from an expert, I'm tempted to point out that a pint and a packet of chips hardly constitutes a revolutionary shift in dining habits.
But the simple starter turns out to be the perfect introduction to a revelatory evening. The bitter yet floral flavours of the strong blond ale, Hopus, counter the sweet spiciness of the pickle crisps, creating a fizzle of flavours on the palate.
If you're talking about combining or pairing beer and food, you can go three ways, beer expert Tim explains over five expertly matched courses at his Antwerp restaurant, De Groote Witte Arend. You can serve the beer that's in the dish, or you can try to reflect, or you can try to create an extra taste: so combine, reflect, and create.
After the crisps comes a glass of Antwerp's local De Koninck ale, with beef cooked in the same beer. This is an example of combining the flavours of the food and beer, but the taste experience is not as simple as you might imagine. The slow-cooking of the beef brings out the malty, caramel notes of the dark beer, while the De Koninck in the glass retains the slight bitterness from the burned malts. Consumed together, you start to understand the complexities and layers of flavours.