Cured meats and beer: an almost perfect marriage
Beers and cured meats? A combination to try. These are often complementary products, capable of creating a perfect virtuous circle between sip and bite. What to combine with raw, sweet and fragrant hams? A traditional Anglo-Saxon bitter, with its biscuity malt enriched by the earthy and white flowery scents of English hops. Maybe in an ESB version, more alcoholic, for intense hams. For cooked and mortadella, with the sweetness and marked acidity typical of some products, the most satisfying option is a fruity, slightly acidic and well carbonated Belgian Bland Ale; but even a Saison can give its best. If we want to go further, going to completely "cut" the products with higher acidity, we have to lean towards a Red Flemish, a mixed fermentation typical of western Flanders. With salami? If well aged, we can opt for a sweet and malty Dubble, or for a muscular Oud Bruin with a marked acidity. For a young salami, an IPA is indicated, whose hops can play with the sweetness of the meat. With spicy products you need to avoid excessive overlapping, trying to focus on similar spices, capable of binding pleasantly: a coppa di testa or a lard with ginger go splendidly with the coriander of the blanche. The same goes for smoked cured meats: avoid adding smoke to the smoke, using a simple but functional beer to create a perfect combination of sensations. Here then I prefer a Marzen over a Doppetbock over a Rauchbier. And with 'nduja pepper? A Belgian Strong Ale, capable of "extinguishing" the burning sensation in the mouth without annihilating the balsamic scents, the perfume and a pleasant
tingling.
Mauro Pellegrini
