As we all know, beer is a perfect companion to good food. But it’s also an excellent ingredient in cooking. After centuries of wine domination in restaurant kitchens of the world, the times are changing. And if you’re looking for that great taste, you need a great beer. It’s time to eat pilsner.
The beer boom is not losing its grip on the citizens of the world. Yet we find that the quest for the most bizarrely innovative brew doesn’t really attract the same interest that it used to. Instead we go back to tradition. How beer was in the older days. And what is more traditional than the original pilsner. Pilsner Urquell has been brewed in the same fashion since 1842, when it became the world’s first pale lager beer. A pilsner with an instantly recognisable taste and famous for its rich foam.
So, if you want to use a good beer in the kitchen for cooking, it’s seen as the perfect match. Cooks especially seem to love Pilsner Urquell, and not only as their favourite tipple after a long working week – some also use it in their profession.
Preparing food with beer has been around for a long time. Our grandparents did it, and in many beer-producing countries it’s often the natural choice to use in stews, soups and sauces. Still, beer has not really been explored much by restaurant chefs, which is something that is about to change. And so it is at Linje Tio, in Stockholm, a place known for its delicious range of fresh Mediterranean fare, that we come to eat pilsner.
The welcoming venue, situated in Hornstull, in the south of the city, was recently selected as one of the 100 best bars in the world by worldsbestbars.com – a rather astonishing accomplishment for a restaurant and cocktail bar that has only been around for about four years. The restaurant is part of a three-part venue called Tjoget, which also includes a wine bar and old-fashioned, state-of-the-art barbershop. It is, however, it is the mixology and cooking at Linje Tio that grabs the biggest headlines.
The selection of food at this cosy yet spacious spot shows influences from all over the Mediterranean region – from Spain to the Middle East. And the chefs are a mixed, dedicated, crowd, all united in the same ambition: never to make the dishes more complicated than necessary. Less is always more if you have top-class ingredients, which we should all know by now, after decades of listening to TV chefs preaching that very mantra.
It has often been argued that if modern gastronomy had been developed in a beer-drinking country instead of France, maybe the whole world would use more beer in its restaurant kitchens. Beer, however, is not just a liquid to be used instead of wine, it has its own requirements. David Falk, the sous-chef at Linje Tio, explains: “I believe we are sometimes much too conservative in the restaurant business. You should have wine in everything. Soups and sauces. It’s a cultural thing, but it’s all about how you apply it. Good beer has its own properties and it offers new possibilities.”
When preparing shellfish, a full-bodied pilsner such as Pilsner Urquell is, of course, absolutely perfect. It possesses the sweetness and bitterness that lifts the ingredients and goes so well with the freshness of those lovely fruits of the sea. For cooking mussels throughout Europe, beer is often the first option rather than wine, so why not with scallops?
“First of all, scallops are great to eat together with a good pilsner. That we all know. And cooking shallots with beer is a well-known classic. As a scallop is naturally sweet, the idea of adding the sweet pilsner foam on top as a garnish together with herbs came naturally to us,” says Falk, who together with his colleague and boss, Shanit Yakob, is the cook behind the recipe.
Pilsner Urquell is especially appreciated for its rich and tasty foam, and the pouring really changes the character of the beer – something that the chefs took into account when creating this dish. It’s a recipe that fits perfectly into Linje Tio’s unpretentious yet delicate menu that has a penchant for shellfish. As proved by this dish of scallops Urquell, it’s a fabulous way to eat pilsner.
Scallops Urquell
Serves 4
4 shallots, finely chopped
4 tbsp of butter
2 bottles of Pilsner Urquell
4 fresh scallops in their shell
Dill, chives and cress, chopped, to serve
01 Heat up the grill (burning coal, if possible). Next, set a frying pan over a medium heat, add 1 tbsp butter and sweat the shallots. When they are done, add a bottle of pilsner and bring it to the boil gently to create a shallot compote. Add the rest of the butter and cook until it is brown. Season with salt and pepper.
02 Clean the scallops, take the muscle out of the shell and put to one side.
03 Add 1 tbsp of the shallot compote to the bottom of each shell and places the raw muscles on top, then add a splash of pilsner. Put the top shells back on and place the scallops directly on the hot grill and cook for up to 5 minutes, depending on the size of the scallops.
04 When the scallops are ready, place them on plates. Garnish each with the herbs and 1 tbsp of pilsner foam. Serve immediately.
Credits:
Words by Tor Bergman
Linje Tio, Hornsbruksgatan 24, Stockholm