No local restaurant is doing a better job on a more consistent basis with beer-pairing dinners than The Cork and Craft. It’s a bold statement, but one I’m willing to make. I’ve been to many a multi-course beer-and-food hook-up in my day, but after attending several at this Rancho Bernardo brewpub, I’m certain that theirs are the most heightened to be had on a monthly basis.
There are a number of factors that help separate C&C from the pack. First off, there is the use of the Abnormal Beer Company ales that are brewed in-house. Despite the fact each monthly dinner features a guest brewery, ABC brewer Derek Gallanosa adds one of his own wares as well as a collaboration beer brewed with the night’s visiting fermentation specialists. But even without the house beers, the rare specialties Gallanosa wrangles from his partners-in-crime is always impressive and more often than not, awe-inspiring.
But Gallanosa’s influence goes beyond the liquid realm. Working in tandem with C&C executive chef Phil Esteban, he is also responsible for pairing the evening’s dishes and beers, often drawing from a brewery’s entire portfolio, including the aforementioned exotic offerings. The adjective exotic can also be used to describe Esteban’s fare. He delights in highlighting lesser-seen produce and proteins, and items hailing from far-off locales. And while his skills in the kitchen are top-notch, he shares the spotlight with his kitchen team as well as guest chefs from white-linens and en vogue eateries, bringing together their ideas and dishes to create a well-rounded experience and even more depth at each of the dinners.
Visiting chefs have hailed from Juniper and Ivy, Nine-Ten and Cowboy Star, while guest breweries have included operations of all sizes from Stone and Firestone Walker to The Bruery and nano-operation Council Brewing. Esteban says dinners with The Lost Abbey, Saint Archer and Green Flash’s Cellar 3 barrel-aged beer project as the most successful of the 15 events in the Abnormal Beer Dinner Series thus far, citing time spent working as a team as the unifying factor.
“The biggest thing about a collaboration is to actually collaborate,” says Esteban. “I have been a part of too many beer dinners where you just select a beer and everyone shows up day-of with different styles and flavors. There’s no cohesiveness in the menu or variety of beers.”
With each guest brewery bringing so many diverse, unique flavors to the table, Gallanosa and Esteban must work diligently to key in and whittle their way to the perfect pairing. But it’s always rooted in the same consistent logic and a devotion to the “three Cs”—complement, contrast and cut. Here, they walk us through their five favorite Abnormal Beer pairings.
Smoked Garden Salad with Mostra Mocha Stout
Esteban: The salad itself was roasted and fresh shaved beets, sous-vide and shaved radishes, charred asparagus, sweet peas, toasted cacao nibs, burnt orange oil and five different purees—beet, smoked radish, charred basil, citrus and verjus-raisin. From a chef’s perspective, there was definitely a lot going on in terms of technique but it was put together methodically. The early notes of caramelization, smokiness, sweetness and slight bitterness paired extremely well with the coffee stout.
Gallanosa: When considering flavor combinations, we like to think of what other ingredients could have been added to the ber to make it more complex. In this case, we decided to add the element of smoke to the dish in order to complement the roast and coffee flavors that were already in the beer.
Lobster Chawanmushi, Nori Puffed Wild Rice & Caviar with Year One IIPA
Esteban: Chawanmushi is a Japanese egg-custard. Rather than regular dashi (bonito flakes and Kombu stock), we roasted lobster shells and created a dashi base. The custards were light and steamed for a smooth yet rich flavor. We added wild grains that we puffed like popcorn in high-temperature oil and finished with salt and nori (dried seaweed) powder, paddlefish caviar and nasturtium flower petals. The richness of the chawanmushi, umami flavor of the nori, crunch from the puffed grain, saltiness of the caviar and peppery taste of the nasturtiums help balance out the tropical, citrus and fruity notes as well as the slight hop-bitterness of the double IPA.
Gallanosa: With Double IPAs, you have beers that are light but extremely potent with their flavors. We wanted to mimic that on the food-side, but incorporate new flavors. With this pairing, the higher alcohol was able to scrub away the chawanmushi custard that stuck to one’s palate, while the citrus flavors of the beer added a pleasant brightness to the dish.
Oysters, Lettuce, Pork & Lime with Calamansi Saison
Gallanosa: Oysters usually benefit from some acidity to bring out the briny flavors of the oyster. Calamasi is a tart citrus fruit with tangerine- and lime-like flavor. Adding it to a Belgian-style saison gave it a nice acidity that we used to complement the oyster dish.
Esteban: The oysters were shucked and the liquid from inside them was reserved for a gelatin foam. It allowed us to add an aerated note of ocean brine to the dish. Crispy pork skin added crunch and rich, fatty flavor. It was garnished with baby gem and miners lettuces. The dish was left to interpretation—guests could use a spoon and knife or do as I would do and use the lettuce as the vessel to scoop everything into one bite. The brininess of the oyster and aerated “ocean foam”, freshness of the lettuce, richness of the pork skin and citrus from the lime paired extremely well with the beer. Plus, the saltiness of the brine balanced out the tartness of the saison.
Egg, Peas, Green Garlic & Foie Gras with Bee Juice
Gallanosa: This dish needed a lighter dish so as not to overpower the delicate flavors of the Belgian-style hone pale ale, yet be complex enough to match the flavors coming off of the Belgian yeast strain and the orange-blossom honey in the beer. That being said, each one of the seemingly simple ingredients on the plate had a certain culinary technique applied to them, making an overall well-rounded dish just that. When combined with the beer, it gave the patron a sensory experience that shouldn’t be forgotten.
Esteban: This was a fun dish. Brined and sous-vide egg yolk, a puree of peas and green garlic with foamed foie-gras buttercream. We played on matching the sweetness of the honey beer to the richness of the fatty, creamy flavors from the yolk and foie.
Salted Cod, Dill, Leeks & Marrow with Year One IIPA
Esteban: I really liked this dish for three reasons. First, the flavors blended amazingly well together. Second, we had used this beer in a previous dinner and paired it with a completely different dish. It shows the wide range of beer and the complexity of flavors that can be used to enhance a beer in different ways. Third, the actual dish is true-to-form of the way I love to cook; pulling a lot of inspiration from Nordic cuisine with a lot of seafood, light, crisp and refreshing flavors that have depth with smoked, charred and “burnt” flavors, but balanced out with clean flavors like dill, vinegars and cultured creams or buttermilk. Here, salted cod was made into a tartare with swordfish bone-marrow, then garnished with crispy cod skin, leek ash, coriander blossoms and a dill aioli. A classic way to pair IPAs is with a fatty dish like pork belly, but we went with a rather light protein plus rich flavors to help balance out the double IPA. The beer’s tropical notes added slight acidity to the dish as well.
Gallanosa: When pairing, we always talk about matching intensities. Year One IIPA was a strong, assertive beer that needed a bold dish to pair with. The concentrated flavors of the fish bone-marrow and the leek ash certainly matched well with the beer’s 8.8% alcohol-by-volume and 90 IBU (International bitterness units).
Upcoming Abnormal Dinner Series Events:
– July 18 | Masumoto Farms with Guest Chef Jojo of Craft & Commerce
– August TBA | Mikkeller Brewing San Diego with Guest Chef Jason McLeod of Ironside Fish & Oyster
– September 19 | Pizza Port Brewing Co. with Guest Chef Jonathan Bautista of George’s at the Cove
– October 10 | Alpine Beer Co. with Guest Chef DJ Tangalin of JRDN
– November TBA | Beachwood Brewing Co. with Guest Chef Christine Rivera of Galaxy Taco
– December TBA | Fieldwork Brewing Co. with Guest Chef Andrew Bachelier of Campfire
Salted Cod Tartare
with Swordfish Bone Marrow, Leek Ash & Dill Aioli
Paired with Abnormal Year One IIPA
Yield: 4 servings
2 cups salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 gal. water
1 lb. cod, filleted with skin removed and cut into chunks small enough to fit through a meat-grinder)
¼ lb. swordfish bone marrow (available at Catalina Offshore Products)
1 leek, halved lengthwise and thoroughly washed and dried
½ cup fresh dill, plus extra for garnish
½ cup grapeseed oil
1 large egg yolk
2 tsp Dijon mustard
distilled white vinegar to taste
salt to taste
coriander blossoms for garnish (or microgreens to substitute)
grilled bread
Abnormal Year One IIPA (or a comparable double IPA to substitute)
Whisk the salt and sugar together in the water until it is completely dissolved. Place the fish and marrow in the brine and let stand for 45 minutes. Remove the cod and marrow from the brine, place in a non-reactive container and place in the freezer for 12 hours. Once the cod and marrow are frozen, use a meat-grinder fitted with the finest attachment to grind the ingredients together. Place the ground fish into an airtight container and refrigerate until it has solidified.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the leeks on a sheet-pan and roast until dark brown or blackish in color, about. Remove from oven and let cool to room temperature. Transfer the leeks to a food processor and grind into a powder. Set aside.
Bring a small saucepan filled halfway with water to a boil over high heat. Prepare a bowl of ice-water. Insert the dill into the boiling water and leave for 15 seconds. Remove the dill from the water and transfer to the ice-bath. Let stand for 1 minute. Heat the oil over low heat then add the dill and steep for 2 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the oil cool to room temperature. Strain the oil through cheesecloth and a fine-mesh strainer.
Add the egg yolk, mustard, vinegar and salt to the bowl of a food processor. Start the processor, then slowly and evenly drizzle in the dill oil until the mixture forms a mayonnaise consistency. Taste for seasoning and adjust if needed.
To serve, use a ring-mold to portion the tartare into 2- to 3-ounce mounds. Dust with the leek ash, garnish with coriander blossoms, dollops of dill aioli and fresh dill. Serve with grilled bread and beer.
—Recipe courtesy Phillip Esteban, Executive Chef, The Cork & Craft