On Tap | Rare Pairs: Brown & Loe’s Doughnut & Tusker

Brown & Loe (429 Walnut Street) opened in the City Market in August. The American bistro offers up refined takes on comfort dishes. So, for the first edition of Rare Pairs, we asked executive chef James Paul and sous chef Aaron Salinas to dive into their beer cooler. They decided to pair Tusker, a Kenyan lager, with a dish that combines collard greens, a doughnut and sheep’s cheese fondue. Paul gives us his thoughts on their Rare Pair below:

The Idea: We really just wanted to make a doughnut (laughs). But we dug through [owner] Harry [Murphy’s] beer list and came up with Tusker.

The Beer: I’m a beer nerd and I usually go for the heavier beers that can stand up to big flavors. Tusker actually goes really well with our house-made pierogies. It’s a nice light lager and I loved the challenge of keeping all the individual flavors without overwhelming the beer.

The Dish: Hearty greens and fry bread are a big part of the average Kenyan diet. So, here we took collard greens and a yeasty doughnut that we paired with a sheep’s cheese fondue. The doughnut is glazed with apple butter, which are slow-cooked apples reduced with red wine and a touch of brown sugar, and powdered sugar.

The Pairing: You’ve got that richness and heaviness of the doughnut and cheese fondue, and a touch of acid from the vinegar on the collard greens. Then you take a sip of the beer and it just cleanses your palate.

— Jonathan Bender writes about food trends and is the author of “Cookies & Beer” and “Stock, Broth & Bowl.” Follow him on Twitter @jonathanbender. On Tap is presented by Flatland and The Pitch. A full archive of The Pitch‘s beer coverage is at pitch.com.