Beer for foodies?

**I'm not lost, I promise! To all my faithful readers, sorry my posts lately have been few and far between. Believe me, I've missed it and you! Sometimes being a graduate student has to come first, even though my first love is food and blogging...I've been extremely busy and taking a class in addition to all of my research, so the homework is killing me, and thus, I haven't been cooking much. I'm going to try and post on a more regular schedule and figure out some way to do my posting at home instead of at work, so hopefully things will even out a bit soon. Don't give up on me yet!**

Oh, and Happiest Halloween to you all! Stay tuned for the pumpkin pics!


In our attempt to "Conquer Eugene" (ie. take full advantage of our short time to live here by taking part in and doing everything possible that our lovely city has to offer), we recently stumbled upon a semi-new establishment - The Beer Stein. The Beer Stein has decent food (mostly soups and sandwiches) and pub-style seating (tall tables with stools and long, tall benches where you can make new friends) and an enormous collection of beer. They carry 10 seasonal beers on tap, a decent selection of wine (some local), and at the last count, 728 bottled varieties of beer from all around the world. We walked in, started looking around, and I must have tripped on Loving Boyfriend's jaw dragging along the floor about a hundred times.

The best part? You can pick up a six-pack, or case, or however many bottles you would like, and mix and match until your heart or beer belly is content. We decided we had to bring home a six pack. While we were browsing, I saw this jewel:

Traquair Jacobite Coriander-Flavored Ale

It's from Scotland. And I, of course, as you know me by now, could not resist the seductive pull of any type of beer with a food-related spin on it. Coriander flavored ale...what could that taste like? First, I had to find out exactly what coriander is...I have heard that it's the same thing as cilantro. And apparently, it is. But coriander is the seeds of the plant, while 'cilantro' is the name commonly used for the leaves, which bear no resemblance in taste to the seeds. It's a spice often used in middle eastern cuisine. Apparently, mention of coriander was found in early Sanskrit writings and the seeds were even discovered in Egyptian tombs dating back to 960 BC! I could hardly wait to get it home to try it.

And try it, I did. It's a very rich, dark beer. I don't pretend to know anything about beer, but it's yummy. When I poured it out into the glass, and brought it up to my nose, it had a spicy, earthy - even semi-floral - smell. And it goes down very smooth. The taste is sweet and herbal, and you can actually taste the coriander. I was impressed. Even cooler? It's made in an alehouse in the oldest house in Scotland! Definitely pick this one up if you like dark beer and give it a try!