25 September 2012
London's only female accredited Beer Sommelier, Jane Peyton, is campaigning
to change people's perception of beer and the notion that wine is the
ultimate match for food. Jane is laying down a challenge for any Wine
Sommeliers who want to accept it to co-host a wine, beer and food matching
dinner where diners will decide what they prefer with each course - the beer
or the wine. Will wine or beer win the Battle of the Bottle?
Whoever spread the idea that wine is the best match for food has never tried
to make a wine ice-cream float. Jane does a version with beer - place a
scoop of vanilla ice cream in a glass of Imperial Stout and sprinkle cocoa
on it - Jane calls it a beer-puccino and it rules!
Jane enjoys subverting people's ideas of beer being something that only goes
with pork scratchings and a drunken kebab on the way home from the pub. She
can match beer with any item on a menu, from a full English breakfast to
crème brûlée and everything in between, plus food from all international
cuisines.
Jane says "Beer is Britain's national drink and brewers here make some of
the best beer in the world - full flavoured, aromatic complex brews that
complement food beautifully. Serve the beer in a 250 ml crystal wine glass
during a meal and suddenly beer is as elegant as its grapey counterpart and
much more versatile than wine as a match for food."
Caramel, vanilla, coffee, honey, spice, citrus, herbs, licorice, banana,
chicory, marmalade, smoke, marzipan, chocolate are just a few aromas and
flavours found in beer. And beer has a secret weapon - hops. Hops give a
flavour backbone, degrees of bitterness, and balance the sweetness of the
malted cereal. Hops can act as knives and cut through fat or heavy sauces
in food, or they can gently support delicately textured and flavoured food.
What do Wine Sommeliers have in their arsenal for the Battle of the Bottle
and who will take the challenge? The gauntlet has been thrown down - let the
battle commence!
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