A very British dish

Few things are as well matched as beer and curry, but is it as simple as that? Sally Toms finds out

Beer and curry is widely believed to be one of the best beer and food combinations on earth, especially by the Brits. We just can’t get enough of it.

There’s a certain amount of delicious irony in the fact that today, there are more people in India speaking English than people in England, and more people in England eating chicken tikka massala than people in India. But then, it’s not exactly an authentic dish… We don’t seem to mind; India’s culinary delights have been served in the United Kingdom since the 18th century and Britain now has more than 8,000 curry houses.

We’ve had long enough then to sort out what we like to drink with it, and lager seems to be our weapon of choice.

And deservedly so, but there are a plethora of beers out there and some other truly mindblowing combinations to be discovered.

So, to point us in the right direction, Beers of the World was invited to a special Indian food tasting at the Bombay Brasserie in London, hosted by Coors.

Until fairly recently the brewer has been synonymous with mass-produced, mainstream lagers, but has now made room for a stable of ‘specialist’ beers that will make you sigh with happiness. Here are some of the highlights:

APERITIF:
Kasteel Cru, 5.2% alcohol by volume (ABV) with chilli and coconut poppadom.

The spiciness of the chilli completely overwhelms the delicate Champagne notes of this beer (made with Champagne yeast). But with a plain warm poppadom, the combination is mindblowing. It picks out a kind of.....

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By Sally Toms

Section : Beer and Food

Page number : 40