Botanical dining in special places
The Dutch crafted beer brand Lowlander is organising a series of intimate ‘beer & food pairing dinners’ in special locations. As a tribute to a lost Dutch brewing tradition.
Lowlander Beer is one of the many newcomers on the booming crafted beer market. The company is organising a series of Botanical Dinners at special locations, with beer brewed with botanicals at the centre. We attended the first dinner on a sunny evening in the garden of the Smaakmuseum, a cultivation garden near Utrecht where historic plant varieties, edible flowers and local crops such as ‘Vleutense Vroege’ and ‘Utrechts Glorie’ are grown.
Botanicals
Creative Chef Jasper Udink ten Cate cooked with the botanical collection from the museum garden, combined with matching botanically brewed Lowlander beers. While most crafted beers primarily use hops as a base to add flavour, Lowlander takes it a step further. In addition to hops, herbs and spices are used, just as with popular white spirits such as gin and vodka.
The principle dates back to ancient (Dutch) brewing traditions from before the sixteenth century. At the time, using botanicals instead of hops was very common. Beers were very sweet in those days because of the barley and a lack of hops, the bitter ingredient in beer. Flowers, herbs and roots had to provide the bitter counterpart. The Netherlands, with its rich history of trade, developed into a pioneer in botanically brewed beers.
I.P.A
During the multi-course dinner, among other things, we tasted a refreshing Lowlander I.P.A with coriander and white tea, which paired wonderfully with the dish of potato crumble and veal, featuring the flavours of ketoembar (coriander seed) and tea leaves.
The highlight of the dinner was a dessert of strawberries, a ‘blonde’ chocolate bar (by Udink ten Cate), fennel flowers and caramel, served with the dark Lowlander Poorter – brewed with vanilla and liquorice. With every bite and sip, we became more enthusiastic. The coffee and cocoa flavours of the roasted malt and the beer’s ‘liquorice-like’ liquorice, together with the salted caramel and the sweetness of the strawberries. A classic case of food pairing, in which dish and drink, in a well-matched combination, transport you to higher spheres.
Series
After the first edition at the Smaakmuseum, more dinners will follow at, among other places:
Greenhouse Living Rotterdam – 22, 24 & 25 August 2017
Copenhagen / DK – autumn 2017
Harvey Nichols Edinburgh / UK – autumn 2017
Harvey Nichols Leeds / UK – autumn 2017
Harvey Nichols Birmingham / UK – autumn 2017
Hortus Botanicus Amsterdam – December 2017
