Beer of the Week: Young's Double Chocolate Stout

While ordering the name of this beer, Young's Double Chocolate Stout, is a mouthful, once you have a taste you can see that it is worth the effort. Similar to Boddingtons, cans of this beer have a nitrous capsule that gives the faux foam that makes it extra creamy and frothy. Although this makes it quite tasty, I much prefer it from a bottle or on tap, but both are hard to find. Often the best way to hunt it down on tap is at Irish or British pubs in the winter, when they have it as a special selection at places like the Telephone Bar & Grill. The beer itself is delicious not for it's creaminess, but rather it's unusual chocolate flavor. A dark Irish stout in every sense of the word, the beer is infused with a dark bitter chocolate flavor that accentuates each sip and makes for a finish that is distinct and much different than any other beer out there. For me, it drinks like a Guinness that has a dark chocolate bar melted into it. If you are one of those people who likes the taste of beers with a fruit finish (cherry wheat for example), but are too embarrassed to get it without being called a girl, then this beer is perfect. The fruitiness is replaced by a deep and savory flavor that pairs well with the dark bitterness of an Irish stout.

Number of Beers Drank in one Sitting: 2-3 because it is filling and rich
Pair with Food: It goes great with hearty pub food like fish and chips, french onion soup or a burger.

Chocolate Beer

Condiment of the Week: Ketchup

Ketchup, or Catsup, or however you want to say it or pronounce it (I personally say Catch-Up, which is 100% wrong) is an American staple. Foreigners tend to associate American cooking with putting ketchup on something as witnessed by Micah on Top Chef this past season. A lot of association of ketchup with Americans is because of our fast food culture that has tried to spread throughout the world. When your known for burgers and fried food, ketchup isn't very far behind being put on the plate. So what is it about ketchup that we love so much? Well for one it's got a great sweet taste, and has a thick consistency that makes it perfect for dipping, but yet still can drip a little off a burger when you take an Eschelbacher bite. I still remember as a kid the only way my mom could get me to eat brussel sprouts was by giving me ketchup to dip them in, although eventually I "graduated" to spicy brown mustard. For many, this example is common, using ketchup as a way to disguise the taste of something for children that may not be popular, or even as a way to get a child excited about anything you serve. Heinz ketchup is almost synonymous with the condiment, and for good reason. Its flavor is probably stronger and sweeter than many other brands, has a better red color than others, and is so processed you are not even sure if tomatoes were involved in the creation of the french fry accompaniment.

As much as I love putting ketchup on the normal fries, burger, chicken fingers and other such healthy foods, ketchup really shines when you see how you can incorporate it into cooking, rather than as a sauce or dip. I like to use ketchup as a way to thicken and sweeten sauces for meats, and concentrate its flavor by reducing it with soy sauce and jalapeno.

Catsup Vs. Ketchup