#Brewsweplate - A beer & food odyssey with Eric Heilig & Floriane Loup

On Sunday 23rd March, in Cassidy's of Westmoreland St, myself and a select number of people were treated to the first #Brewsweplate event. The brains behind this foodie and beery special are Eric Heilig and Floriane Loup. 

The setting in Cassidy's upstairs area was entirely fitting with Eric's philosophy. Fittingly captured in the mission statement.

"The white table clothes and silver service are things of the past. We cut it down to the very essential. Great Irish Produce, amazing Craft Beer and an unforgettable night that just asks for more"

The brewer of the night was White Gypsy, and we were fortunate to have their latest recruit Declan Nixon there to talk us through each the matched beers to each course. Floriane announced each course as they came along.

As an aperitif we were served a delicious Hendricks Gin & Tonic, with cucumber and freshly foraged seaweed. Served in those industrial sized tins were various breads, the standouts for me personally was the treacle and porter brown bread, and the rye flatbreads. Served with a sensation wild garlic butter, and also a tomato butter.

The Amuse-Bouche

Our amuse-bouche was shredded pork with a wild garlic aoili - interestingly the pork was raw and was almost cerviché like in the way it was prepared. With a nice crunchy piece of pork to go with this to add a textural element. The flavour was intense and deliciously tasty. 

1st course - Scallop with Blonde

The first course that came out then was matched with White Gypsy Blonde. A typical German style Weiss beer with those familiar banana and clove smells were matched with Scallop, with roasted banana, coriander, lime and dried Goji berries. The scallop was perfectly cooked and matched beautifully with the components and the beer. 

Hen's Egg, Brioche, Chicken Heart - with Belgian Brown Ale

Next up, matched with White Gypsy's Belgian Brown Ale, was Hen's egg with Leek, Jerusalem Artichoke, pear, brioche and chicken heart. This dish had a lovely earthy feel, very agricultural, reminded me of time on my grandfathers small holding when I was a kid. Matched perfectly with the beer, taking on the beers characteristics and matched on the plate.

The Pork - mmm pork! 

The piece de la resistance for me was the next dish, the perfectly cooked Pork, which I thought was cooked sous vide, however Eric confirmed after it was lightly seared and very slowly cooked at low temps to achieve what can only be described as the most silky smooth piece of pork i've ever eaten. This dish had amazing small squares of crackling, celeriac puree, pink grapefruit, almonds and grapes. The matching beer was my favourite White Gypsy beer, the american pale ale. 

The dessert

Last but not least, was the most sumptuous dessert. A rich dark chocolate ganache with with duck yolk ice cream, with sea salt, sweet potato cream, and rye. The matching beer was White Gypsy's Doppelbock, which had a great complimentary sweet flavour.

All in all this was a fantastic experience, the creativity involved in matching with each beer, and the hospitality was second to none. I love a meal that is nicely spaced out and this was just that. Plenty of time between courses to speak to our table mates and it was a great table if I do say so myself. 

The synergy between the food and beer was exceptional. Eric and Floriane have set the benchmark now, and I for one can not wait to see what they come up with next.