Posted in Events | No comments

The beers tasted, with the exception of San Nicolò from Cittavecchia

I have had the pleasure to attend an evening organized by the association Athenaeum and hosted at the marvelous Convoglia, a fascinating restaurant placed inside the Stazione Termini in Rome. An evening theme: pairings between Christmas beers and “haute cuisine”. As mentioned, the event have been based on 5 Italian “kerstbier”, paired with dishes prepared on purpose by a myth among roman restaurateurs: Arcangelo Dandini, chef of the restaurant “L’ Arcangelo”. Host of the event was Enrico Pozza, assisted by Arcangelo himself and by the representatives of the breweries involved.

The evening started with a survey of Christmas beers, with an interesting historical digression, fundamental to understand the origins of these particular productions. Then we started with two masterpieces among Italian Christmas beers: Noel of Baladin and 25dodici of Birra del Borgo.

Convoglia restaurant

The Noel was pretty good. It was a long time since I drank the bottle version and I found myself surprised for not having found again the strong chocolate notes I remembered. In mouth the first feeling has been of gentle heat, towards a rather ample range of notes (caramel, fruit under spirit, spice), with an evident but not annoying alcoholic component. The long bitter end is the proper conclusion of a well crafted Christmas beer.

For what concern the 25dodici, it was very interesting to taste 2008 bottles. This allowed us to weigh how this beer is changed after one year of cellaring. Many are the differences: aging have given a harmonious and elegant beer, concealing the strong alcoholic content perfectly. It must be said, however, that aging has cancelled its most peculiar characteristics, turning it into a beer with less character. In short, an evolution to which nothing cannot be objected, but that has made the 25dodici 2008 too much mild for my taste. Others may find it terrific.

These two first beers are been paired to a dish prepared by the house chef Alessandro Cecere. A sort of classical Roman fry: dried cod and vegetables tempura, accompanied by a sweet sauce. A rather annoying pairing, probably more suitable with the Noel that with the 25dodici.

Egg omelet in tripe

We then passed to Dandini proposals, and I have to admit that has been some of the best food&beer pairings that has ever happened me to meet. The first dish it’s a classic of the Italian culinary tradition: egg omelet in tripe. It ’s a historical recipe conceived for the Lent period, when the Christian religion doesn’t allow to eat meat: the tripe in fact doesn’t exist, even if the omelet is seasoned with a classical tripe sauce. The presentation is rather curious: the omelet is cut in little pieces, remembering tripe.

The St. Nicolò of Cittavecchia has been paired to this course, with a really appreciable outcome. One of the few pale Italian Christmas, St. Nicolò has fruity and spicy notes and a pleasant bitter end that makes it easy drinkable. It has represented an excellent accompaniment to the omelet in tripe, not clashing with the light tomato acidity. The strong perfumed pecorino and the mint married wonderfully with the beer spiciness.

We then passed to the fourth beer of the soirée: the Nectar of 32 Via dei Birrai. It’s brewed with chestnut honey, that obviously strong characterizes it, without resulting overwhelming nevertheless. It starts with an interesting balmy note, while in the end it has pleasant bitter persistence. It is still a young beer, that would need to age a few months in the cellar, because the sweet component still makes it a quite difficult product. There are however the bases for a great evolution.

"Caos invernale"

For such a sweet beer, Arcangelo has cooked up a particular dish, called Caos invernale (”Wintry Chaos”). It’s a patchwork of typical wintry ingredients, such as dried fruits, pangiallo (dried fruits and honey based Christmas cake), raisins, dates, caramel, with a salmon tartare. The result is an explosive dish, sweet, almost like a dessert, that nevertheless it was excellently paired with the Nectar. It was definitely a clear example of how a pairing must be conceived: beer and food may set off each other.

The evening finished with an unscheduled beer: the CU+ Crismas, a collaboration between Baladin and Birra del Borgo. I had already tried it on draught at the Open Baladin and I had liked it, but I’ve found the bottled version more appealing. It’s more balanced, with less striking sweet notes of candied fruit and with a very pleasant bitter end. The yeast profile is clearly identical to the Elixir one, another renowned Baladin beer.

It has been a really pleasant event and very interesting discover that is possible to pair Christmas beers to dishes so different from the classical pairings with Kerstbier. A praise to Arcangelo above all, who shows all of his ability in such a complex challenge as that proposed in this brilliant evening.