Magazines » May/June 2009 Issue » Beer/food Pairing: A Primer
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Chef Todd Ginsberg, formerly of TAP, an Atlanta gastropub, and current executive chef at sister restaurant TROIS, has been pairing beer with food professionally since 2003. No stranger to a gastropub kitchen -- he still helps TAP’s team of chefs devise beer pairings -- Chef Ginsberg lays down the basics of how to pair your favorite drink and entrée.
When dining out, do you pick the beer or entrée first?
I’d probably choose the beer first, because that’s a variable that you can take out of the equation. You’ll know the beer, whereas maybe you don’t know a certain dish or the spice level of it. There are a lot of variables you don’t know about what you’re going to eat.
The best way to approach a pairing?
I want fatty foods with beer, I want spicy foods with beer, and I want salty foods with beer. A lot of this leans toward a clean, crisp beer for me.
Your favorite pairing?
I take these Georgia fresh peaches that are really, really ripe and roll them in a country-cured ham. Hitachino’s Nest White Ale has a lot of acidity to it and a lot of lemon notes that really complement the peaches, and the smokiness of the ham really brings everything together.
Most versatile beer?
Light, crisp, clean beers along the line of pilsners. You can go in almost any direction, whether it be Thai food, Indian, Chinese, or a pancake with applesauce and sour cream.
Most difficult to pair?
I have a hard time pairing porters that are bitter. There’re just not a whole lot of things you can do with that except try to kind of overpower the beer with the food.
Is there a wrong way to do it?
The only wrong thing you can do is to not try it. You’ve got to give it a shot; try an off-the-wall pairing with a certain beer you want to try -- you have to do it at least once. Wine can be a bit pretentious, whereas beer... it’s beer. It’s something the common person can relate to and feel at home with. And if you screw up a dinner, it only costs you a few bucks as opposed to 40 or 50 dollars. It’s a lot more approachable.
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This article originally appeared in the May/June 2009 Issue of DRAFT Magazine
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