When Belgian Beer Is At Its Best

An interesting thing happened to me during a recent excursion to Greece. I went out to one of the islands' few authentic Italian restaurants and was seated next to an older couple. The man half was talkative; he noticed I ordered a mussel dish as an appetizer and started talking about shellfish. I asked him if he'd ever had New Zealand mussels; he talked about mussels from France.

Then he shifted gears to oysters. He went on about how absurd it was to have them served with ketsup like they do in the States; I tried to clarify the concept of cocktail sauce. I then told him of a place in NYC that serves oysters from many locations aound North America, and compared Chesapeake oysters to those from Prince Edward Island and Alaska.

Proper production and preparation of pasta seemed a natural tangent; I commented that the olive oil on the table was clearly a lower grade and so on.

He seemed surprised by my attitude towards food, suggesting I am atypical for an American. I guess in his travels he was unused to encountering people who cared so much about the details. But I am with my food as I am with my beer, in life hold out for the good stuff cause when you're dead everything tastes like dirt.

When it came to the part where I asked him what he did I had a nice surprise. He called himself an "ambassador of chocolate", his current assignment was to bring that marvelous confection to the Greek Isles. Naturally I asked if he'd ever had the pleasure of Belgian chocolate, to which he laughed and replied "I am Belgian"!

I should have known.

Obviously we shifted our conversation to beer, for anyone that appreciative of food would have to be versed in the art of Belgian fermentables. Therein lies the point of this little article. Belgian beer is what it is because it comes from a place where all palatable pleasures are held in great esteem.

I think places like Belgo and other Belgian-theme restuarants are a great idea because in Belgium beer is just one piece of the big picture. Belgian beer dinners are particularly effective because their point is to marry great beer and great food.

Of course, when we enjoy our favorite Belgians it is often just for the sake of drinking beer. In a way though it's a shame to compliment something like LaChouffe or Duvel with pretzels or nuts, so do yourself a favor sometime. If you make a great meal or are invited to a great meal and asked to bring wine, don't. Instead go for a carefully selected Belgian beer. When a bottle of Belgian beer (especially a 750 ml bottle) is on a table next to a wonderfully prepared dinner it is truly at home. Then you can enjoy it in the best possible setting, enjoying all aspects of great cuisine.

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