Real Beer and Good Eats: The Rebirth of America's Beer and Food Traditions (Knopf Cooks American) - Softcover

Aidells, Bruce

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0679765794 ISBN 13: 9780679765790

Publisher: Knopf, 1996

Synopsis

Now in paperback, this is the book for beer lovers who are looking for the right dishes to go with their favorite beers or who want to cook with beer as a heady, delicious flavor accent. In Real Beer & Good Eats, Bruce Aidells and Denis Kelly take you on an exhilarating beer-and-food odyssey, tasting the rich new full-bodied brews and sampling delicious foods that go with good suds. Along the way, they tell you the story of American beer, from the founding fathers to the renaissance of superb beer-making sweeping the country today.
The 175 recipes that Aidells and Kelly bring together here reflect the great American regional dishes and traditional saloon fare, as well as the cooking of brew-pub chefs who are creating a new beer cuisine. With every dish, the authors recommend specific beers or ales, both for imbibing and for cooking. They explain exactly how beer is made and give definitions and examples of beer styles the world over, as well as instructions for brewing beer at home.

About this title

From the Back Cover

Beer is the beverage of celebration, of the shared harvest and communal prosperity. It's what we drink at town festivals and picnics in the park, beach parties and block parties, family reunions and friendly get-togethers. From the Goddess of Beer to Spuds McKenzie, on Oktoberfest or the Fourth of July, at Sunday afternoon baseball or Alderman Riley's reelection, beer is the drink of parties and holidays, the ritual substance that unites us all.

And beer in America is always tied to food. A hot dog at the stadium or clambake on Cape Cod, a barbecue with the neighbors or the Sheboygan bratwurst festival: all are incomplete without foaming mugs of beer to accompany the feast.

Beer itself is, after all, a form of food. When asked about taxing beer, one of our founding fathers objected, "Sirrah, it is liquid bread!" And indeed it is: the first food purity laws date from the Babylonian lawgiver Hammurabi's time and condemn brewers who make bad beer to be thrown into the river. The Bavarian Rheinheitsgebot (Purity Law) of 1516 is still in effect and ensures that only grain, yeast, hops, and pure water be used to brew beer.

Beer is basically fermented grain and is nourishing in and of itself. Early sailors carried it aboard ship to drink in place of foul water and to prevent scurvy. It is said that beer, bread, and onions built Egypt's pyramids. The Vikings brewed a special Portage Ale to give them strength for the great portage around Kiev. Beer was an essential part of the diet of the European peasant from time immemorial. And it was, especially in northern Europe, England, and early America, the beverage of choice at the table.

In colonial America beer was drunk at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and a ration of beer was part of the everyday wages of the agricultural laborer. Beer accompanied everything from the plowman's simple lunch of bread and cheese to the most elaborate banquet menus in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia.

From the Inside Flap

or beer lovers -- and much, much more. In Real Beer & Good Eats, Bruce Aidells and Denis Kelly take you on an exhilarating beer and food odyssey into the heart of America, tasting the rich new full-bodied beers and ales that are being produced by small breweries today and sampling delicious foods that go with good suds. Along the way, they tell you the story of American beer, from the founding fathers (who refused to tax what they called "liquid bread") and Washington and Jefferson (who both brewed their own) to the heyday of beer gardens and neighborhood saloons.

The renaissance of good beer-making that is sweeping the country brings with it a new interest in foods that go well with beer. The 175 recipes that Aidells and Kelly bring together here reflect the great American regional dishes and traditional saloon fare, as well as the cooking of brewpub chefs who are creating a new beer cuisine.

To wit...

Typical of brewing days in early America -- Pi

About this edition

• Publisher: Knopf
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0679765794
• ISBN 13: 9780679765790
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 368