Local Food, Local Beer: A Match Made in Michigan

November 18, 2007

“Because you are reading this…chances weigh in favor of you having Michigan beer already as an important part of your beer purchase decisions…Now how about the food you eat?”

- Rex Halfpenny, Editor, “Michigan Beer Guide”
(Click here for more of Rex’s thoughts on food, beer and community)

Next to local beer, local food is another topic that I get pretty excited about. I’ll be the first to admit that at this point in my life I’m probably, overall, much more conscientious about my beer purchasing decisions than I am about my food decisions. But over the past six months or so Kevin and I have been trying to make a deliberate effort to eat more locally and sustainably produced food. There’s actually a term for this movement that seems to be really be catching on: slow food. The Slow Food International website defines the movement as :

“[A]broad cultural shift away from the destructive effects of an industrial food system and fast life; toward the regenerative cultural, social and economic benefits of a sustainable food system, regional food traditions, the pleasures of the table, and a slower and more harmonious rhythm of life.”

This past Thursday, these two beautiful worlds of good beer and good food happily united at “Drink and Think,” a slow food and craft beer dinner hosted by Slow Food Detroit.

The event was held at Detroit Beer Company. It was hosted by Melinda Curtis, the founder and director of Slow Food Detroit. Over a three-hour period we were treated to a three-course meal featuring locally produced food, skillfully prepared by Reggie Emerson, the executive chef at Detroit Beer Company. Each course was expertly paired with Detroit Beer Co. beers crafted by head brewer, Kevin Rogers. And, last but certainly not least, we were guided through the sensory world of beer and food tasting (not to mention an educational and engaging whirlwind of fascinating beer history and facts) by Rex Halfpenny, editor of Michigan Beer Guide - one of our favorite beer geeks - and perhaps the premiere beer guru in the state.

Our meal began with a salad of chilled pear halves stuffed with cherries and almond cream cheese, served on a bed of mixed greens, drizzled with a raspberry
vinegarette and garnished with dollops of the cream cheese lined with plump Michigan blueberries. The salad was paired with the Broadway Light, a traditional german pilsner . This was an excellent choice to begin the meal because it provided a nice starting point for those new to the world of craft beer - since it’s what most people think of when they think of traditional American beer. It was also a great choice becuase the dry, crisp and clean taste balanced the the tangy sweetness of the cherries and the vinaigrette.

Our entree consisted of a generous portion of fresh Great Lakes whitefish encrusted withTraverse City walnuts, a Michigan cherry sauce, a side of roasted parsnips and potatos, and a sweet potato chip garnish. I’m very picky when it comes to fish and if it is too “fishy tasting” (which is usually a sign that it’s not fresh… and I come across this at a lot of restaurants) I won’t eat it. The fish was perfect - delicate, mild and flaky. This course was paired with the Detroit Dwarf, an award winning beer named after a local mythological creature. Perhaps even more interesting than the legend of the name behind the beer is the mystery shrouding the beer itself. Rex informed us that the beer was a unique style called”zwicker” which really means that it doesn’t fit into any of the traditional style categories. He described it as a young lager/ale hybrid and informed us that the category in which it won an award at the Great American Beer Festival was “Beer made with yeast.” This is funny considering that’s the the equivalent of winning a cheese competition in the category of “cheese made with milk.” Regardless of the enigmatic nature of the beer itself, the preciseness with which this beer was paired with the food was self-evident. The warm roasted caramel notes of the Dwarf complemented the soft nuttiness of the whitefish and the earthiness of the roasted root vegetables.

The meal was topped of with dessert consisting of warm doughnuts from a local cider mill and Detroit Beer company stout ice-cream garnished with a bit of the roasted barley malt used in the stout. This was paired with samples of the Brown Ale and the seasonal Pumpkin Ale. The toasted notes of the Brown Ale complemented the hints of caramel and chocolate in the ice cream while the spiciness and the slight tangyness of the pumpkin ale paired well with the cinnamon-sugar coated doughnuts. I must admit that while I finished my samples of the beer, I just couldn’t bring myself to finish the ice cream and doughnuts. I was too full!

We finished off the evening with a much-needed (after all that great food) stroll down to the basement of the brewpub for a tour with Kevin Rogers, the brewer.

A dinner pairing local food and local beer. It may seem extravagent, or exotic, or just plain silly to some people. But when you really think about it, as Rex Halfpenny said, it’s what our ancestors did for centuries prior to the industrialization, mass-marketing of food and beer. Craft beer brewed by artisans paired with quality food that was produced by you or your neighbors was what most people ate and drank for thousands of years before the advent of McDonald’s and Miller Light. But along the way it’s been forgotten. Events like these are a nice way for us to slow down and think about where our food comes from and what goes into it. Who grows it? Who picks it? How was the Earth where it came from cared for during the process?

And then to match it with a centuries old beverage steeped in history and tradition and brewed with knowledge, love, and respect.

Finally… to sit down at the table with friends and family (or complete strangers in this case) and build relationships over the fun of experiencing flavors that these magical combinations can create. That’s what slow food and craft beer are really all about.

Okay…so I do still eat fast food occasionally. But when it all comes down to it… I’d take more experiences like this over a quarter pounder with cheese any day!

Slow Food Detroit is planning a beer and chocolate pairing for February. Check back for more info.

Posted in Beer Event, Beer and Food