Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Beer and Butter Tarts/Chicken

Smallbeer safely returned from Suds-bury to deliver these important messages.

Thanks to Dave for putting me onto the Beer and Butter Tarts Canadian food and drink blog aggregator. This is a site that lets people find Canadian beer blogs without being a. another beer blogger, or b. members of my own family. Sadly, that's pretty much the extent of most beer-blogs' readership. Or at least crap ones like mine.

However, in return for this plug, Beer and Butter Tarts will aggregate me an audience of millions. I will then sell out, and drink free for the rest of my life thanks to google-ads.

To keep this post vaguely on-topic, I recently prepared a Beer and Butter Chicken pairing. I'm a die-hard curry fan, but not this artsy fare you find in Vancouver restaurants, or the timid, soupy type you seem to get in Victoria. I mean the REAL stuff. You know, like what they make in England...

To satisfy my urge for arterial and facial trauma, I tend to make my own curries. Lots of cream, garlic, handfuls of cilantro, half-the-spice-cupboard, and enough heat to bring an old man to tears.

My wife loves the mythical Chicken Tikka Masala. Pictured here is my version: basically a souped-up butter chicken with heightened spice and fresh tomatoes.

In England, I'd typically pair a Lamb Madras or Prawn Pathia with whatever lager they had at hand. Sheffield curry houses often have Kingfisher on tap, which does the job. But I'd heard that IPAs are a natural curry partner so I put my last Pike's India Pale Ale to use.

The Pike is a modest IPA, liable to get lumped into the "English"* category because it is not as powerful as many of its West Coast counterparts. That said, it has a resinous tang that cuts through the thick curry well. The body is not too full. It has a somewhat clotted-cream-like sweetness. Something more forthright might have stood up to the curry better, but the Pike was still an excellent partner.

SO. Do Canadian beer bloggers and yourselves a favour, and poke around Beer and Butter Tarts when you get the chance — particularly the BC section.

--
ReaderQ
*Can someone suggest a reasonable definition for the "English" style IPA? I find the current tendency to categorize North American IPAs as either English-style (weak hops) and US-style (strong hops), to be a bit throwaway. I'm sure some critics mean something very specific when they say "English-style", but most, I suspect, are just riding the terminological bandwagon. There must be more nuanced distinctions. We should respect them.

5 comments:

  1. Great blog! Speaking of beer, I personally love Guinness...its great to cook with.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've spotted this bottle at the store, next time I'll pick it up and give it a try. I seem to be on a huge IPA kick right now...

    ReplyDelete
  3. '''. Instead, focus on a single thing or just a couple of things, and try not to move forward until you have reached those goals. These hail every little thing played getting rid of barely the sophisticated keys, so you ought to keep effective toward crush extra listed below barely a limited area of time.

    Feel free to surf to my site; lupang hinirang piano chords and notes

    ReplyDelete
  4. The decor on the inside of the restaurant is absolutely beautiful.
    Below are listed a few popular pubs where one can chill in Mumbai.
    8.

    Here is my weblog: easy pub quiz and answers

    ReplyDelete
  5. squares with various tea leaves and tea flavors inside each square.
    Unfortunately for me as an addict, I need my crime fix.
    Spice things up by including these Halloween-themes recipes:.


    Have a look at my blog post; dvd players

    ReplyDelete