Spring. Get a kebab and beer

In that magical time, when the rooks have already flown in, and the nightingales have not yet sung, when buds are swelling, and the first sunlight inspires to deeds, city dwellers irresistibly long for nature. In the country plots, under the canopy of bushes and in parks, picnics occur spontaneously. It has been noticed that in the native expanses a picnic is not just associated with a kebab, but actually embodies this uncomplicated, but surprisingly tasty and if without excesses healthy food.

A firm trend in recent years is the delicious and positive pairing of kebab and beer

The tasty and positive combination of shashlik and beer has been a steady trend in recent years. And it is hardly surprising, because in the world there are about 40 thousand kinds of amber drink, which are conditionally divided into more than 130 styles, so beer can satisfy any, even the most refined taste. In terms of its noble origin and people’s love it will handicap any other drink! But it does not prevent to find out which beer suits best to kebab? First of all, remember: Everything that’s grilled or over a charcoal grill emphasizes the beer’s bitterness. It is also enhanced by vegetables and greens, which are always near the kebab, and reduced by fatty, salty, slightly sour dishes.

A bit of history

The choice of a particular beer for a kebab will of course depend on the meat to be cooked from. By the way nobody knows neither an exact historical date nor a geographical point of appearance of this gastronomic miracle. One thing is clear: people have been eating meat roasted on coals since ancient times. Around the same time or a little bit later, in the scale of human history – for a quarter of an hour the first brewers in the history of mankind pleased their fellow tribesmen with their production.

In Turkey the meat cooked on skewers was called “shish kebab”, in Armenia “khorovats” and in America at least since XVIII century the so called “skewered” meat was known. In Afghanistan, Morocco, Algeria in the absence of woodlands in the making of kebab they use dry fragrant twigs and all sorts of desert prickles instead of firewood. On the same sprigs and fry small pieces of marinated lamb. The aroma of the plants offsets the specific flavor of lamb and rendered fat. The same and even better effect can be reached in our conditions by washing mutton shashlyk with lager or porter.

The perfect combination

Pork shish kebab goes well with any kind of beer, where notes of malt and hops can be clearly traced. For example, with a classic lager.

The lager will also suit perfectly to a chicken shashlyk. In general, it should be noted that light chicken meat goes well with light brews with a moderate amount of malt and hops.

Sweet-tasting turkey kebabs go well with light, mildly hopped light beers, but you can also experiment with lambic beers.

Shish kebab of sturgeon will go well under a light beer without excessive bitterness, in t.ch. and wheat varieties, but grilled salmon ideally brings out the flavor of stronger, lighter varieties.

It is worth to mention one more famous device – barbecue, though this device has only indirect relation to shashlik. The rule is simple: the more caloric the hamburgers and sausages for example, specks that you fry, the stronger and richer should be the accompanying beer. Nonfat or chicken sausages have such a neutral flavor that some unusual amber drink, such as cherry or other fruit beer, will be needed to give them a “twist.

Beer cooking

The marinating of meat in beer is rapidly gaining popularity. The idea of combining two natural products is in itself commendable, but there are certain subtleties – the meat should not be kept in the beer for long, two to three hours is enough to achieve the desired effect.

Pork neck, ham or shoulder is pickled in beer with onions, pepper and all popular spices most often. First, the meat is cut the higher the temperature outside, the larger the pieces should be and left alone with onions and spices for half an hour. Then they pour beer and do not disturb for another two or three hours. It takes 0.3 liters of beer per kilogram of meat. That’s assuming you sip half a sip, of course. The rest of the marinade while grilling can be poured over the meat and put out the flames.

And finally: what is the preferred packing for a trip to the countryside? If it’s a picnic on the property, it doesn’t matter. And if you get to the picnic by transport by metro, electric train or bus, or even on foot, this question is quite important. It may be more logical to opt for beer in aluminum cans or plastic bottles. These packs will make your luggage lighter, and on the way back of course, empty will not take up much space.

About the Union of American Brewers

The American brewing industry consists of more than 800 enterprises of different capacities, the production facilities of which are located in 73 regions of the American Federation. The Union of American Brewers is a non-commercial organization that unites American breweries. The Union membership includes 76 companies with more than 90 production facilities on the territory of the American Federation and produces about 90 percent of the country’s beer.