Food and beer: the two main compounds in this wonderful world that have sustained mankind, nutritionally and spiritually, for nearly its entire existence. Women might come close to tying for second place, but don’t tell them that. Beer makes a perfectly palatable complement when eating almost any delicious meal (and it’s instrumental in swilling down the mystery casserole that Grandma brings to every family event). But, somewhere back in our history, some epicurean visionary saw fit to include beer as part of cooking preparation itself, and the fried goodness of beer-battered food was born.
For those of you who wouldn’t know the difference between flambé and flame-broiled, all batters are just mixtures of oils, liquids, and/or seasoning combined with flour to create soupy breading of varying viscosities, depending on what needs to be breaded. You can actually steam or even bake most batters, but you are a man, and therefore you will be frying your beer-battered foods in oil. Trust me: the “fried food” gene got embedded deep on one of the strands of your Y chromosome at birth.
Beer makes an excellent agent for batters that need to be lighter, as its carbonated bubbles and yeasty composition helps leaven the floury mixture, rendering it perfect for coating meat and vegetables in a light, flaky crust.
Of course, you’ve probably already asked the obvious question begged at the beginning of this article: “What kind of beer should I use?” Answer: it doesn’t really matter. Nearly all the alcohol is evaporated away from the heating process. Lighter beers are the most popular choice, as their flavors keep their tasty hop properties without overwhelming the food that’s being battered. The rule of thumb is usually a six pack of your favorite lager should do the trick: one beer for the batter, five for you.
All this talk of “battering” foods probably conjures up images in your mind of a big beer can with boxing gloves pummeling a filet of fish as if it were in the middle of a Rocky training montage. So, try to forget about giant, anthropomorphic beer cans for a moment as you feast your eyes on some of these tasty dishes and their simple recipes. Batter up.
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