There is nothing new about beer. In ancient Sumeria people were drinking it 4,500 years ago and it is known that the members of the ruling classes were concerned because their slaves would often become drunk from drinking too much beer. By 1,750 BC beer houses had become so popular that the author of the Code of Hammurabi devoted a special section to condemning some of those places for their "under-strength, over-priced beer". Even though nearly everybody agreed that drinking beer to excess was socially undesirable, Sumerian and Egyptian doctors were in general agreement that cooking with beer was actually good for the health. Several ancient texts even suggest that cooking with beer was considered an excellent way to add flavor to otherwise bland foods.

The history of cooking with beer is not all that noble. The members of the Germanic tribes learned that marinating rancid beer in beer would hide its bad smell and taste; some unscrupulous Roman fish dealers pickled their fish in beer to hide the fact that they had caught their fish in that part of the Tiber river which stank because of the sewage that emptied into it; and quite a few Chinese cooks cooked in beer to hide the fact that the "beef" they were serving was actually rat meat. Cooking with beer become respectable, however, especially in England when it was learned that making batters with beer added enormous charm to the taste of fried vegetables and that marinating even the finest beef in beer added a pleasant taste to the finished dishes. Although some say that the English have not added much to the culinary repertoire of the world, they did give us the art of making batters, breads, sauces and marinades based on beer. Later, it fell to the Germans to teach us how to use it in soup, the Americans to give us a method for preparing chicken and the Japanese to show us how to use it with fish and seafood.

To choose from 10 Recipes for Cooking with Beer, Click Here.

© Daniel Rogov