Beer Week To-Do: Try Pickled Hop Shoots
Seattle Beer Week begins today, and runs through May 29. During this time, participating breweries and pubs will be hosting events and tastings, as well as special menu items. We'll be doing out best to keep up on the 'haps (and the hops), plus letting you in on what we're finding and looking forward to.
Last night, knowing that it would likely be the last time for a week that I'd be able to sit at my favorite taphouse without a.) having to write anything down and report on it, and b.) share a table with strangers because the place was ass-to-elbows, I decided to get my own personal Seattle Beer Week started early, with a trip to Naked City, in Greenwood. I chose Naked City because it is ultra-close to my house and I am lazy, and because I was fairly sure that, as a major participant in Seattle Beer Week, they'd probably already have a few special items ready to debut. They did.
Unprepared (i.e., no camera on-hand and a woefully unable phone) for what I found, I'm sorry to say that I don't have a photo. But what I do have is advice: during this Seattle Beer Week, you absolutely must eat pickled hop shoots.
Hop shoots are not to be confused with the hop cones which give many IPAs (my favorite) and other hoppy brews their marvelous bite. Hop shoots grow very quickly, and are a byproduct of beer brewing. They resemble very thin asparagus, and are at their peak between March and April, during which time they are bountiful. And while fresh hop shoots are slightly prickly and tough, pickled hop shoots are briny, tender, and delicious. They're served in a boat, with no silverware and a pile of napkins. They aren't messy, but they are entertaining to watch others eat.
Part of the fun of Seattle Beer Week is seeing what's new in brewing, bottling and advertising surrounding beer and its ingredients. And while pickled hop shoots certainly aren't new (our server told us that they used to get them several years ago, but didn't last year, much to her dismay), they certainly aren't enjoying the love that fiddleheads, nettles and other off-the-path greens are receiving.
But these salty shoots are certainly ripe for becoming a new popular pub-grub, especially for those who like to pay due homage to beer, by eating every part of the process.
