Food pairing
Beer with mushroom risotto
Rice cooked to a creamy consistency with mushrooms and stock, savoury and soft with nothing crisp anywhere on the plate.
Two things define the pairing. The dish is deeply savoury — mushrooms and stock both contribute glutamates — and it is uniformly soft, with no crunch, no acidity and no char to catch a beer on.
Softness is the harder of the two. A dish with no textural contrast can be flattened by a heavy beer and left unresolved by a thin one, so what works is a beer that brings its own structure: carbonation, or a firm dry finish, or both.
Mushroom risotto narrows the field sharply, and one answer stands clear of the rest. Most beer falls down on at least one thing this dish demands. The attribute doing most of the work is umami.
What to drink
Saison — excellent pairing
The dish is uniformly soft and deeply savoury, with no acidity or crunch anywhere to break it up. A saison arrives with high carbonation and a dry, peppery finish and supplies the structure the plate does not have — which is a textural pairing rather than a flavour one.
Caution: Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.
American wild ale — outstanding
Tartness resets the palate between mouthfuls, the way a squeeze of lemon does.
American stout — outstanding
Bitterness, carbonation and a dry finish scrub the fat off the palate, so each mouthful of food tastes as good as the first.
Australian sparkling ale — strong
Bitterness, carbonation and a dry finish scrub the fat off the palate, so each mouthful of food tastes as good as the first.
Caution: Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.
Belgian golden strong ale — strong
Bitterness, carbonation and a dry finish scrub the fat off the palate, so each mouthful of food tastes as good as the first.
Belgian IPA — strong
Bitterness, carbonation and a dry finish scrub the fat off the palate, so each mouthful of food tastes as good as the first.
Tripel — strong
Bitterness, carbonation and a dry finish scrub the fat off the palate, so each mouthful of food tastes as good as the first.
Flanders red ale — strong
Tartness resets the palate between mouthfuls, the way a squeeze of lemon does.
What not to drink
- Sahti — Delicate food needs a beer that stays out of its way.
- American lager — A light beer against a heavy plate tends to disappear.
- Milkshake IPA — Delicate food needs a beer that stays out of its way.