Polar beers

Polish beers have moved on and moved over here. Susan Nowak suggests some magic matches

Ioriginally drank beer in Poland when it was still a Communist state behind the Iron Cur-tain. I recall queuing for an hour for some-

one to squirt what looked like dishwater, literally, out of a hosepipe into my glass.

It's certainly a lot different today. Poland is exporting an increasingly diverse choice of beers, with demand being initially driven by young Polish migrant workers who are missing a taste of life back home.

That's why Polish food stores are springing up in the provinces, and supermarkets devote a large slice of the deli counter to Polish meats. The delicious combination of Polish beers and charcuterie provides perfect summer pub food to tempt your new drinkers from Eastern Europe, as well as the locals.

Polish sausages and cured meats make a gorgeous, colourful serving platter, ideal for sharing and outdoor eating. For the plate pictured here I found nearly all the sausages in Morrisons, ready to simply slice (some wafer thin, some in chunks) and serve.

Krakowska from Krakow is my favourite, a big, ham-type sausage with a hint of garlic. Smoked pork Podlaska and succulent Wiejska - "pork farmer's sausage" - both contain garlic, too, but it is far more restrained than a French saucisson. Slaska is a plump, bronze-skinned beef and pork sausage; Kabanos, long and thin with dark wrinkled skin, an interesting blend of dried, smoked pork with caraway.

The prince of Polish deli meats has to be Sopocka, smoked loin of pork. Though on sale ready-sliced, small joints are readily available and much more succulent home baked. Thin pale-pink slices could be the centrepiece of your platter.

Add rye bread, and little tubs of Polish staples - beetroot salad, baby gherkins, pickled red cabbage and horseradish. To drink? Three strong Polish golden-lager-style beers now popular in the UK provide just the right contrast to this mix of strong, complex flavours.

Lech, at 5.2% abv, has a big malt aroma leading to a hop finish; 5.7% abv Tyskie, brewed from a recipe dating back to 1629, has a refreshing, lemony aftertaste; Zywiec, 5.6% abv with a beautiful bottle label, combines hop bite with malt sweetness. All three should be served well chilled - and Zywiec's bottle boasts a built-in beer thermometer to help.

Slaska is also great grilled on the BBQ, along with thick slices of Boczek - smoked belly pork, again found in the supermarket - so why not plan some outdoor Polish events for the August Bank Holiday?

Pork is popular in all forms in Poland. Thinly beaten escalopes are dipped in egg and crumbs then fried and served with mash flavoured with a little chopped dill - a simple dish ideal with these lager style beers.

As it gets colder, you'll need more pork for Poland's most famous dish, Bigos. Legend has it that an Italian princess married a Polish prince, and brought along some pickled cabbage as part of her dowry.

Their honeymoon was spent hunting in the Polish forests, topping up the pot with whatever they bagged each day, with the pickled cabbage acting as preservative. Today Bigos is a delicious, rich casserole of pork, bacon, Polish sausage, sauerkraut, fresh white cabbage and red wine.

An ideal accompaniment is the fuller bodied, light amber Okocim, a hop start followed by malt sweetness, available on draught as well as in bottles. Though for this robust dish you may want to consider its stablemate, Mocne. At a huge 7% abv, autumnal flavours of toffee, fruit and nuts are to be found lurking in the bottle.?

Perfect pairs with Leffe

Master beer sommelier and Belgian beer ambassador Marc Stroonbandt hosted a Leffe beer and food pairing session at the Taste of London festival. He said: "Food pairing with beer is all about bringing the two flavours together in a way that enhances the total experience."

Stroobandt maintained that beer and food could be matched together in a number of ways - to cut, cleanse, compare, contrast and enhance. "In general terms," he explained, "light beer goes with light food and darker beer with stronger food - but retailers shouldn't be scared to experiment."

For food to match to Leffe Blonde he recommends a range of bar snacks such as chicken satay with hoisin sauce; fried chicken nuggets with sour cream dips; young or mild cheese cubes; salmon blinis with cream cheese; plaice goujons with tartare sauce; pan fried prawns with mild cream-based curry sauce; mini baked potatoes with cheese; cured meats and salami selection with a mild mustard; custard tarts or Portuguese nattas and mini crème brulee.