Praise the French Canadians! Last week Jen and I attended the monthly Newstead Tower Pub beer dinner, aptly named the Dinner du Cochon Rose, or Dinner of the Pink Pig. It featured beer from my favorite Quebecois brewery, Unibroue who specialize in Belgian-style ales, and four courses of pure pork deliciousness care of chef Anthony Devoti and the hogs of Benne's Farm. Some tasting notes and a little inspired film clip for your consumption.
Course Un: Pork cake, current jam, micro greens, and a fried egg. Served with Don de Dieu.
We started off with appetizer more akin to breakfast than dinner. The pork cake (oh, you mean like a crab cake and not a pastry cake? I get it now! Jen laughed at me...) was spicy, nicely balanced with the sweet-tart current jam, and made even more decadent by mixing in bites of farm fresh egg yolk. Don de Dieu is a "we mean business" sort of wheat ale, weighing in at 9% ABV. It was hard to believe that this deliciousness could be topped.
Course Deux: Charcuterie of house-made coppa, prosciutto, and pate with warm whole wheat baguette and stone-ground mustard. Served with Maudite.
The second course was killer... I mean, how can you go wrong with a plate of meat? With two types of a pate (Grandma's, a bit more gamey but still good, and Champagne, with nuts and dried fruit) Jen and I quickly realized that we were going to need more bread. The mustard, while a favorite, was found to be unnecessary and sometimes masked the flavor of the pork. I think my combination of pate, mustard, and topped with prosciutto was the ultimate trifecta. Why yes, I do like pork with my pork! Maudite would be my second choice for a stuck-on-a-desert-island-with-only-one Unibroue beer. Which means it's outstanding. Bonus points for it being on draft at Newstead. As a deep red ale, it paired perfectly.
Course Trois: Pulled pork served on brioche toast, roasted pork loin with horseradish mashed potatoes, "franks and beans"- house-made pork sausage with white bean puree. Served with Chambly Noire.
The main course was a "tasting" of pork prepared three different ways... each a bit of a tongue-and-cheek take (pardon the slight pun) on traditional dishes. The pulled pork tasted similar to the pork cake with the addition of a vinegary sauce and the toasted brioche "bun." The pork loin was tender and tasty, though I'm not sure what in the marinade was for it... maybe mustard seed? The horseradish mashed potatoes were incredible. Creamy and not too over-powering. Finally, buttery, sage-y sausage and white bean puree. Simple and delicious. And something I think I will attempt to make at home. I was new to the Chambly Noire, but I do love a good black beer. This one was similar to many Schwartzbiers (a German style) I've had previously. It was toasty and balanced and subtle and lower alcohol. All of which made the main course more about the flavors of the food... which, I think, is as it should be.
Course Quatre: House-smoked bacon with Stilton blue cheese ice cream, drizzled with black truffle honey. Served with La Fin du Monde.
By this point Jen and I were pleasantly stuffed and I was well on my way to being tipsy. (Jen was driving and therefore giving me the extra pours offered to us by one of the lovely Newstead bartenders, Jessica.) How were we going to finish dessert? I was really excited for this course, as La Fin du Monde is in my top-five-all-time-favorite beers. SO TASTY. If anything was going to motivate me, that was! But the dessert itself was amazing and unlike anything I've tasted. Blue cheese ice cream was creamy and sharp and slightly sweet. When combined with the honey with bits of shaved black truffle floating in it, the sweetness intensified but did not hide the tang of the blue cheese. The salty, crunchy bacon was an outstanding topping, adding another layer of flavor and complexity to the experience. All of this with the best beer ever: a body with fruit, hops, yeast, intense carbonation. I was in heaven. As I've said before it's La Fin du Monde (as we know it), and I feel fine...
As a final treat, I'd like to share a clip that we discussed at length over dinner. Praise the French Canadians... and praise their beer!
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