Thu July 3, 2008
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"Secret Ingredient"
These
beers ought to be in the larder of every serious chef
in America. They are
potent “secret ingredients”.
A couple of intriguing combinations include: Salade
frisee with bacon and
apples sautéed in Gueuze Boon; Gravlax with
Gueuze Boon and lime; Asparagus with a Gueuze Boon
vinaigrette; Lobster with a coulis of red
peppers enriched with Gueuze Boon; Onion relish made
with Faro; Filet of Sole with Faro; Warm Scallop Salad
with Gueuze Boon, Venison with Kriek
Boon; Sorbet of Framboise or Kriek Boon; a Sabayon
Sauce made with Gueuze to serve over raspberries. Serve
as aperitifs—particularly
in the summertime. They are elegant and sparkling like
champagne.
Lambics
Unique to Belgium, specifically
to the Senne Valley outside of Brussels, the name comes from Lembeek in
the heart of the region credited with creating the style. Lambic is remarkable
for being spontaneously fermented. The mash is made from barley and wheat
and impregnated with the wild yeasts that make up the micro flora of the
Senne Valley. It is then put into oak casks and matured for 18 months to
two years. Because spontaneous fermentation results in varying ”crops”
of beer (like the differences in wine from harvest to harvest), the second
remarkable aspect of Lambics is they are blended to give consistency, again
like wines. Thus with Lambics there exists the position of blender, someone
who does not brew, but blends beer from various brewers’ output. Do not
be misled if you hear this term into thinking “oh, he’s only a blender.”
Blending is the key to making fine Lambics, knowing which casks are superior,
when to take the beer from the cask, and in what proportions, to have the
classically tart but not bitter flavor that best Lambics possess.
The beer that comes from
the cask is called Lambic and is the base for other beers that are made
from it.Faro, a mixture of top-fermented ale and Lambic, spiced with coriander and aromatic peppers and softened
with the addition of candy sugar.Kriek, made by adding fresh
cherries into the casks, leaving for 4-6 months to macerate, adding their
color and flavor. Framboise, like Kriek, a fruit Lambic, but in place of cherries, fresh raspberries are put in the
casks. Gueuze, a mixture of old
and young Lambic. The young Lambic is added to cause a refermentation in
the bottle making for a delightfully sparkling and dry beer that has been likened, in all seriousness, to Champagne.
Lambics are among the oldest beer styles in Belgium. These are the beers
that are being raucously enjoyed in the paintings of Brueghel. Though still
much sought after today, traditionally-made Lambics are very hard to find.
Many brewers do not use 100% spontaneously fermented beer, preferring to
save time, and money by adding top-fermented beer to small quantities of
old Lambic. Other modern compromises include using fruit syrups and extracts
instead of pure fruit to age in the casks.
Many of these variations
started as attempts to satisfy consumers, who Lambic brewers felt were
losing their taste for tart beers (after years of drinking sodas). Today
there are few traditional producers left indeed. Among the most respected
is Frank Boon.
Companion Foods And
Recipe Ideas
Among all the beers in the
world, the most exciting to cook with are the Lambics. The micro flora
which inhabit the casks in which Lambics are aged bear a close resemblance
to those that play a vital role in the fermentation of sherry. Some Lambic
casks originally came to Belgium filled with sherry and madeira in the
era of Spanish domination.
Imagine cooking with sherry,
balsamic vinegar, or sesame oil for the first time, and you will have an
intimation of the new horizons that will open when you use Lambics. |
