Food pairing
Beer with parmesan
A hard aged cheese of enormous savoury intensity, salty and granular with a nutty finish.
Parmesan is the most concentrated savoury thing in most kitchens. Years of ageing leave it dense with glutamates, very salty, and studded with the crystalline crunch of tyrosine — small in volume and enormous in intensity, which is an unusual shape to pair against.
Salt that high wants malt sweetness to round it off rather than bitterness to cut it, because bitterness and salt together turn harsh. A dubbel's dark fruit and caramel meet the nuttiness and take the edge off the salt, which is why sweeter dark ales suit it better than the dry lagers that work with milder cheese.
Parmesan 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
Dubbel — excellent pairing
Both carry a deep savoury sweetness — the cheese from long ageing, the beer from candi sugar and dark malt — and the salt makes the malt read richer.
Munich Dunkel — outstanding
Deep malt character matches the savoury weight of the dish instead of sitting apart from it.
American brown ale — outstanding
Deep malt character matches the savoury weight of the dish instead of sitting apart from it.
American porter — outstanding
Deep malt character matches the savoury weight of the dish instead of sitting apart from it.
Bière de Garde — outstanding
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Czech dark lager — outstanding
Deep malt character matches the savoury weight of the dish instead of sitting apart from it.
English porter — strong
Deep malt character matches the savoury weight of the dish instead of sitting apart from it.
Oud Bruin — strong
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
What not to drink
- Alcohol-free pale lager — A light beer against a heavy plate tends to disappear.
- Grisette — A light beer against a heavy plate tends to disappear.
- American lager — A light beer against a heavy plate tends to disappear.