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Ray Beauchemin
Journalist writes a new guide to beer and food, and cooking with beer in Quebec

Last March, I met Ray Beauchemin for a delightful lunch at Le Petit Moulinsart, a belgian cafe/restaurant that offers more than mere frites, beer and mussels.

It's what you would expect when dining with a man who has promoted the craft brewing movement in Quebec for almost a decade. As a homebrewer and avid beercook, Beauchemin has just released a new book about cooking with beer, SALUT! The Quebec Microbrewery Beer Cookbook (Vehicule Press, $18.95 CA)

From appetizers, soups, salads, seafood, meats, poultry, breads and desserts (Ray's wife Denise is studying baking and pastry), there's a huge range of recipes.

Plus, Beauchemin offers suggestions for pairing dishes with many of Quebec's finest microbrews, such as Unibroue's Quelque Chose, which he thinks is ideal for chocolate. In fact, Ray recently wrote a long article for the Montreal Gazette, touting the tasty combination of chocolate and beer.

However, that day at the Petit Moulinsart, I had the oeufs a la neige with toasted almonds, and the black Boreale Noire made a lovely bitter contrast to the sweet cream.

Ray embarked on the beer cookbook almost 5 years ago, so to see it in print at last will be wonderful. I'll add more details and recipes when I get my copy to review.

As for the Petit Moulinsart (39 St. Paul West, 514.843.7432), I would recommend it for lunch - for midday dining, the prices are affordable, and the specials of the day most intriguing. Though just a few of the dishes (predictably, the mussels) use beer as an ingredient, the beer list is sublime.

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