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Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/598044
www.cheersonline.com 34 • November/December 2015 ciders, including Alpenfire Bittersweet, AeppelTreow Perry and West County Golden Delicious. Capitol Cider also came about from a passion for apple beverages. Opened in 2013, it "was not a haphazard choice to feature ciders. We always wanted to be an educational spot for cider," explains Jonathan Chambers, beer and cider manager. This includes recommending food pairings, which are written into the menu. The tavern bases many of its matches on how the food would work with wine. "Cider is technically apple wine," Chambers says. That's why seafood dishes are an ideal pair for cider, including Capitol Cider's clam frites, with ground bacon, garlic, thyme, French cidre and fries ($14). The menu suggests that diners pair this dish with E.Z. Orchard's Hawk Haus ($8 for a 6-oz. pour). "This cider provides an aromatic, herbal, mineral and yeasty background that compliments the fattiness of the shellfish," Chambers explains. Staying with seafood, Capitol Cider offers a Fish and Chips plate, with cod cooked in Blackthorne Cider, plus lemon and house-made tartar sauce ($16). The menu recommends this with Domaine Bordatto Cidre Sagaro Basandere ($7 for a 6-oz. pour), a semi-sweet English style cider. "It's not too heavy, and has real nice acidity," Chambers says. "It's got a little funk like a Spanish cider, but also more body. It helps balance out the high salt of the fish dish." EAST MEETS WEST Bushwhacker Cider, which recently opened a second location in Portland, is another concept based around premium ciders and the cuisine that pairs well with them. For example, Pinkston notes that the lamb vindaloo in a Mediterranean curry sauce, with potatoes, spinach and garlic ($10) works well with dry and tart ciders, such as the house- brewed Le Grande Pomme ($5 per 8-oz. pour). A single varietal cider, Le Grande Pomme is made with Manchurian crab apples. "It really opens up the vindaloo," Pinkston says. "On the palate, the vindaloo tastes completely different than if you weren't drinking a good dry cider." Another option with the vindaloo, he adds, is the Baird and Dewar Farmhouse Cider ($5 for a 16-oz. pour). The producer ages cider in oak barrels after an open fermentation. The result is a cider with flavors similar to a chardonnay or saison beer. DISHING ON CIDER Bushwhacker also incorporates ciders into its dishes. It uses cider for reductions, in house-made vinegars, salad dressings and infusions, and as a poaching liquid or dressing for fish, often in conjunction with different herbs. Much like how you cook with wine, cider imparts its flavor on the food, explains chef Adam Beckor. Bushwhacker offers up Chorizo a la Sidra: the Spanish sausage with paprika, garlic and onion, pan-fried in cider, "preferably a Spanish cider, or a cider of Spanish Basque style," Beckor says. Spanish ciders—or sidras—are renowned for their distinctive tastes: acidic, complex, and musty like lambic beers. Beckor says these flavors are perfect for cooking the chorizo. "Everybody knows that pork and apples are a strong bet," he says. "It gives the dish a lightness, cutting through the fat of the pork. I serve the dish with a big piece of bread, because you're going to want to mop it all up." What to pair with it? Pinkston recommends a glass of Never Give an Inch ($5 for a 16-oz. pour). Made by Cider Riot of Portland, it's a tart, dry, backberry cider, Pinkston says, rich without being sweet. "The contrast between the chorizo and Never Give an Inch are really interesting." Finnriver Fire Barrel cider ($5 for a 12-oz. pour) is another match for the chorizo. This Washington State cider is sweet and dry, with a clean finish. Like chardonnay it fizzles over the tongue, Pinkston says. "It plays with the palate—the sweet and dry cider with the dry and spicy chorizo." Cider is also on the food menu at Capitol Cider. Chefs there Capitol Cider in Seattle sells cider flights of three 3-oz. pours for $14; the tavern currently offers a Spanish style, a single varietal-style flight, a show- case of E.Z. Orchard ciders from Salem, OR, and a continental flight with American ciders, including Alpenfire Organic Ember Bittersweet, AeppelTre- ow Perry and West County Golden Delicious.