How to Enhance Your Dishes with These Tubers
Many people enjoy a good beer with their dinner, and now you can take that experience to the next level by pairing truffles with your favorite brew. Truffles are a type of tuber that grows underground, and they add an amazingly rich and robust flavor to dishes. In this article, we will discuss how to pair truffles with different styles of beer. We'll also give you some tips on how to use truffle oil in your cooking. Let's get started!
Some of the best truffle growing regions of Europe are also known for their fine wines (as we documented in our Pairing Truffles with Wine post). In many of the same regions, beer is also a local alcoholic accompaniment, especially in the warmer climes and times of the year.
We recommend opting for something light and crisp, like a German lager or pilsener when pairing with spicier dishes. This especially works with with dishes like our Baked Truffle Buffalo Wings, which feature our fiery and fantastic Truffled Hot Sauce. The crispness of the beer helps to quench your thirst while also washing down the spiciness of our hot sauce.
There are lots of other light and crisp beer options including those from Mexico. Due to the warm climate of the region, light, yet spicy dishes are the norm and require a light, thirst quenching brew to wash away some of the heat that the inclusion of chilies in many dishes can bring. There’s no better example than our Spicy Shrimp Tacos with Truffles and Cheese. The light yet succulent shrimp are coated with our Truffled Hot Sauce and spicy mayo that creates a flavorful and mouth-coating piquant bite. The crispness of a Mexican lager like Corona, Dos Equis or Negra Modelo will certainly calm your tastebuds.
Sticking with the light and crisp category, Japanese beers often hit the spot as being light in flavor and very food-friendly. Brands like Sapporo and Asahi offer beers that are refreshing and easily pair with a wide variety of dishes featuring truffles including sushi, nachos, pizza, and more.
Moving on to more robust styles of beer, you get to an American craft brew favorite, which is the India Pale Ale (IPA, for short). IPAs tend to be bigger in body and bolder by nature, loaded with floral and herbaceous hops used as a flavoring agent (and originally used as a preservative to keep the beer fresh.) We like to pair IPAs with bigger, bolder dishes, like Fried Chicken sandwiches and our Ultimate Truffle Burger. The heavier feel of these beers stands up well to heartier dishes, while the hops helps to keep things fresh on the palate.
Another favorite of pubs is the Irish Stout style of beer. Popularized by brands like Guinness, the Irish Stout, prized for its fuller body and malty flavor stands up well to hearty dishes that “stick to your ribs.” Our Deconstructed Truffle Chicken Pot Pie and Truffled Shepherd’s Pie are classic Irish dishes that naturally pair well with a tall pint of Guinness or other nitro stouts.
Some other styles of beer that pair well with truffles are wheat beers, also known as witbiers. Wheat beers often have pronounced citrus flavors with full bodies. This helps them to complement dishes featuring truffles, which often have a starchy or fat component that coats the palate and requires a beverage to help cleanse the palate while complementing the flavors. Wheat beers work especially well with seafood dishes featuring truffles, where the interplay between the citrus notes and full body of the wheat beer help add extra textural nuance to each bite and sip.
The last beer type we will feature is the saison-style. Saison beers are typified by their high carbonation coupled with fruity and spicy flavors. These features create a tasty platform for pairing with a variety of dishes featuring truffles. Because of the spicy notes in saisons, pairing with other very spicy foods will likely lead to a fireball on your tongue, so instead we recommend pairing with more mildly spiced dishes like our Truffled Hummus or Truffled Deviled Eggs, where the earthier, more subtle spices can interact with the high carbonation and spice notes in the beer.
We hope this article gives you some fresh ideas on pairing truffles with beer. If we missed one of your favorite styles of beer, please let us know in the comments. We’ll be sure to add it to future updates of this article.
