Monday, 10 November 2014

Family, Food and Beer Appreciation Blog

Well, I came home to Edmonton this weekend to do a bunch of beer and food pairings for a class presentation I'm working on. I got together with my Aunt Jadzia and my Babcia and we made some delicious Polish foods and drank a bunch of beers to see what works..... This got me feeling rather sentimental, so I thought I'd post up a bunch of pictures of my family and I enjoying delicious food and beer!

My sister Danielle acting a fool and my Aunt Jadzia preparing Zupa Orgorkowa (pickle soup)

We paired it with: Warsteiner Dunkel, Deschutes' Chasin Freshies IPA, Tyskie Pale Lager, and Pilsner Urquell

Mmmmm..... Jadzia loved the fresh hop grassy taste of Chasin Freshies with the sourness of the pickle soup

Danielle preferred the bitter bite from the Pilsner Urquell...

We also had goulash over rice with my Heartbreak Porter. Nice dark mushroom gravy and beef really went well with the roasty richness of the beer. There's also a nice sweetness in the beer that balanced out the savouriness of the dish. Man, can I compose a food photo or what?


The next day, we made Bigos (cabbage stew) with our Babcia and paired it with a bunch of other beers.

Finished Bigos. Ready to eat!

My Babcia and I doing the tedious prep work! Lots of bacon, kielbasa and mushroom chopping!

So we paired it with Zywiec Pale Lager, Steam Whistle Pilsner, Erdinger Dunkel, Lindemans' Framboise Lambic, and Red Racer.
Surprise surprise... they all paired well with Bigos. You can basically drink anything with this old timey Polish dish. Red Racer was a big hit, however. The bitterness cut through the sour cabbage for sure and the citrus notes really complimented the tang of the dish.
 
The lambic really worked too! I was surprised that sour and sour did so well together, but they did! The raspberries also added a sweetness that complimented the sourness. Really interesting pairing. The cabbage was sour in the front of the mouth and the beer left a tang in the back of the palate. Just delicious!
 
 That's it for now.... Now I've actually got to work on the presentation. Na Zdrowie!