Beer and pizza: the only pairing that matters

I'm keen on experimenting with beer and food pairings. I like to try out recommendations. I like to read books on beer & food. And, yes, one day I will get round to tracking down Garrett Oliver's The Brewmaster's Table. I like to wax lyrical about complements and contrasts, on occasion. I like to drool over Sean Paxton's menus. I get a kick out of discovering a pairing that lifts the a meal to another level of flavour.

But, in my heart of hearts, I know it doesn't really matter. Because there is only one pairing that matters. Beer and pizza.

I've thought before as to why it works so well, but could never quite nail the reason. Then tonight, whilst I was blowing the suds off a cold one,  waiting for the oven to ping, it struck me.1

Beer and pizza is the perfect pairing because it's whatever you want it to be.

It changes with your palate, your mood, the seasons, the special offers.

It can be the best of pairings and the worst of pairings. It can be luxurious, all hop-tickle and mozzarella drops. It can be brutish, all suds and chewy cheese. A pairing borne of wisdom or borne of foolishness. A pairing that results in belief or incredulity.  When you have everything before you and nothing before you, when your pairing can send you direct to heaven and direct the other way. 2

Everybody changes. Everybody hurts. But there's always beer and pizza. It's a pairing that I love now and know that it will keep exciting me and satiating me until the day I die.



1) What beer and pizza did I have tonight? Sheesh, if you're asking the question then you've missed the point.

2) Yeah, I bet Charles Dickens would have loved beer & pizza too