Belgian Beer no.4: Chimay, the first of the six chosen ones

In the spirit of the Blog, and to advance on the Belgian Beer page, my last ‘investment’ was: three Chimay beers (the Red, the Blue and the Triple) and the Chimay glass.

One of the six trappist beers, Chimay products have been produced since the 1860’s. Chimay gives its name to three beers, and four cheeses: the old Chimay, the Chimay grand classic, the Chimay with beer and Chimay grand cru. I have to confess I haven’t tried any yet (how could I have missed them?) but I will soon and they will all feature on Food and Wine.

I am not an expert on the differences in beers, the tastes, so I’ll leave all the in depth information to the Chimay website. In the picture taken you can see a Chimay Triple which I know out of the three should be drunk cooler than the others (Chimay Red and Blue ideally at 10-12°, Chimay Tripple at 6-8°).

And to continue the very Belgian tradition of cooking with beer, to day a Chimay recipe.

Trout fillets in Chimay (serves 4)

8 trout fillets
66cl Chimay Blue
8 slices of Chimay classic cheese
1 spoon honey
2 spoons cream

Place the trout fillets in a buttered dish, heat the fillets briefly in the oven, remove the dish, lay a slice of cheese on each fillet, add the beer and return to the oven for 10 minutes.
Remove the dish from the oven and remove the fillets.
Lay them on a very hot plate, allow the liquid to reduce, add the fresh cream and the spoonful of honey.