Chef Ed Bugia (of PINO fame), one of the talented chefs in Manila today, created a 5-course meal with beer pairing of San Miguel Premium All-Malt Beer, San Miguel Super Dry, and Cerveza Negra.
Most of the courses went well with the recommended beer. The experience expanded my appreciation of how to match beer, especially with some dishes that were beer-infused.
Check out Chef Ed Bugia’s 5-Course PINO Meal with Beer Pairing…
San Miguel Lifestyle Brews Beer Pairing Series:
- BITES & BREWS: San Miguel Lifestyle Brews Bar Crawl Experience
- PINO: Chef Ed Bugia’s 5-Course PINO Meal with Beer Pairing
- Beer Pairing Basics 2: French Food with Beer?
- Beer Pairing Basics @ Chateau 1771
The beer pairing meal was specially created for the awarding of the “Great Pairings with San Miguel Lifestyle Brews” contest among the Nuffnang bloggers held at PINO/PIPINO restaurant along Jupiter St., Makati.
Appetizer: Honey Truffle Cashew and Walnuts
The meal started with nuts with sweet honey and truffle oil — a great way to stimulate the appetite.
Course #1: Beer Cheese Soup
The first course was an interesting mix of beer with cheese soup, with crispy, candied bacon and grape. The combination was very good but the soup had a burnt taste.
Chef Ed recommended pairing it with San Miguel Super Dry (which was the beer used in the soup).
I found it weird having the soup with beer, but the flavors worked well together, particularly with the sweet, crispy bacon.
Course #2: Frisse Salad with Crispy Pig Ears
Salads are supposed to be all angelic and healthy, but this one has a devilish side (with its pig ears chicharon). The chef suggested matching it with the Cerveza Negra because of the strawberry vinaigrette to give it a sweet chocolate-like finish.
This was the pairing that we least liked because salad courses are supposed to be light, and matching it with beer contradicts that. Although, the beer did complement the chicharon.
Course #3: Country Fried Chicken with Mashed Pumpkin and Kamote
I loved this chicken, which tasted like KFC fried chicken inside and Bonchon’s sweet, double-fried crunchiness outside. The chef recommended drinking the San Miguel Premium All-Malt Beer for this course.
I like San Miguel Premium All-Malt. It matches well with most dishes because it has a balanced taste that does not overpower the flavors of the food. What I enjoyed about this beer pairing was how the sweet notes of the beer enhanced the taste of the sweet, crunchy skin of the chicken.
It’s the first time Chef Ed roasted a lamb this big with lots of thyme, rosemary, garlic and olive oil. It was served with salt+lime and a dipping sauce of yogurt, apple mint, and its own drippings.
It was soft, with some parts cooked medium, and some dark meat parts well-done.
We loved the roasted lamb, which paired nicely with the San Miguel Super Dry. It’s good on its own, but you can dip it in its drippings to make it juicy, and the apple mint to bring out the flavors even more.
Course #5: Cerveza Negra Chocolate Donut Balls
The dessert was fried donuts with truffle chocolate inside.
Cerveza Negra always goes well with dessert, especially with chocolates. The donut was a bit hard already when it cooled, though. It would have been nice if the chocolate was oozing when you take a bite.
Congratulations to Nuffnang Blogger Maria Rosario Aclado for winning the “Great Pairings with San Miguel Lifestyle Brews” contest. She won a 3days/2 nights stay at Sofitel Manila (worth Php 27,000), Dinner at Spiral (worth Php 7,000), and a relaxing spa package for two (worth 7,000).
The award was given by Ms. Anna Gimenez, the Group Product Manager for San Miguel Lifestyle Brews, Flavored Beer, San Mig Strong Ice, San Mig Zero and New Products together with Sherwin Santos (leftmost) of San Miguel Beer, and Alan Sienes, San Miguel Brew Master (rightmost).
Congratulations to Chef Ed Bugia and San Miguel Brewmaster Alan Z. Sienes for an interesting and yummy 5-course PINO Meal with San Miguel Lifestyle Brews Beer Pairing!
I enjoyed it more than the beer pairing dinners in the past. Well done! 🙂
San Miguel Lifestyle Brews Beer Pairing Series:
- BITES & BREWS: San Miguel Lifestyle Brews Bar Crawl Experience
- PINO: Chef Ed Bugia’s 5-Course PINO Meal with Beer Pairing
- Beer Pairing Basics 2: French Food with Beer?
- Beer Pairing Basics @ Chateau 1771
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Full Disclosure: San Miguel Lifestyle Brews is an advertising partner of Our Awesome Planet.
I wrote this blog post myself, and it expresses my own opinions. We only feature awesome experiences in the blog.
P.S. The 5-course meal by Chef Ed was specially designed for the awarding ceremony. You can request or inquire with the chef directly if you want to try the dishes above.