Food pairing
Beer with samosa
Deep-fried spiced pastry — greasy, aromatic and moderately spicy.
A samosa is deep-fried pastry around a spiced filling: greasy outside, aromatic and mildly hot within. Both halves matter, and they pull in slightly different directions — the pastry needs cutting through, the spice needs accommodating.
Wheat beer handles both. Its carbonation and light body clear the frying fat, while the soft, faintly sweet malt and spicy yeast character meet the cumin and coriander rather than fighting them. A sharply bitter beer would deal with the pastry and sharpen the chilli.
Samosa rules a lot of beer out, but several beers do the job it needs equally well. Pick between them on preference — the reasons matter more than the order. The attribute doing most of the work is fat.
What to drink
Weissbier — outstanding
Peppery and clove-like notes from the yeast pick up the warm spicing in the dish — the same aromatic family on both sides.
Berliner Weisse — outstanding
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Grisette — outstanding
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Caution: Expect the beer to refresh rather than to stand up to the food.
Gueuze — outstanding
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Caution: Capsaicin is an irritant rather than a flavour, and alcohol and hop bitterness both intensify it. A sweeter, lower-strength beer will do more for the heat.
Saison — outstanding
Peppery and clove-like notes from the yeast pick up the warm spicing in the dish — the same aromatic family on both sides.
Caution: Capsaicin is an irritant rather than a flavour, and alcohol and hop bitterness both intensify it. A sweeter, lower-strength beer will do more for the heat.
Belgian single — strong
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Caution: Capsaicin is an irritant rather than a flavour, and alcohol and hop bitterness both intensify it. A sweeter, lower-strength beer will do more for the heat.
Kristallweizen — strong
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Grodziskie — strong
Beer and dish carry similar weight, so neither flattens the other.
Caution: Capsaicin is an irritant rather than a flavour, and alcohol and hop bitterness both intensify it. A sweeter, lower-strength beer will do more for the heat.
What not to drink
- British strong ale — Delicate food needs a beer that stays out of its way.
- Helles Bock — Delicate food needs a beer that stays out of its way.
- Bock — Delicate food needs a beer that stays out of its way.