Cider is not only a wonderful fruity alternative to beer for quenching summer thirsts. The amateur chefs and bartenders among us should also pay attention to the other golden drink, especially from Magners.

The fact that beer can be used as a cooking ingredient should not be a secret to anyone. Whether as a beer batter, as a sauce or for pickling, beer is far more than a delicious thirst quencher. But what beer can do, its distant cousin has long been able to do: cider. And especially in summer, the fruity refreshment comes in handy, as the following ideas prove.

PROVENCAL CIDER CHOPS

Where does cider come from anyway? Cider was invented in what is now Great Britain at the time of the Roman occupation. In fact, the Romans advanced apple growing on the island and even had the necessary technology to squeeze fruit on a large scale.

So it's not particularly surprising that despite its Anglo-Saxon origins, cider combines perfectly with Mediterranean cuisine - such as with Provençal cider chops. For this we need:

• 4 boneless pork chops (approx. 300 g each)
• 80 g hard cheese (e.g. Comté; piece)
• 80 g cooked ham
• 2 garlic cloves
• 500 g potatoes
• Shallots
• Butter
• Thyme
• Herbs of Provence
• 200 ml cider, for example Magners

Simply cut the chops and stuff them with the finely chopped cheese and ham. Then sauté them in butter in a roasting pan for about 2 minutes per side before taking them out and setting them aside. This makes room for the quartered and peeled potatoes, finely chopped garlic, shallots and all the herbs to sauté as well before deglazing with the cider. The chops go back into the roasting pan, and this in turn we put into a preheated oven (electric oven: 200 °C, convection oven: 180 °C, gas: see manufacturer) to braise for about 1 1⁄2 hours. If the 17 varieties of apples included in the Magners are too few for you, feel free to spread quartered apples around the chops after an hour. Bon appétit!

COCKTAILS

It's easy to overlook the fact that cider can hold a candle to beer as a summer refreshment - and probably even more so that it makes a wonderful cocktail base. Cider varieties that have been enriched with additional fruits (such as berries) in the brewing process are particularly suitable for this purpose. With them, for example, you can conjure up a sparkling Peach & Berry cider sangria, which will bring on the vacation spirit. For this we need:

• 1 L berry cider, for example the Magners Berry
• 150 ml peach liqueur
• Chopped peaches and strawberries
• A handful of mint
• Ice cream

The ingredients are then simply put in a pitcher and stirred. Serve cold and you feel transported to the playa.

With the pear season soon to begin, we'd also like to honor the apple's sweet sister - because the pear doesn't fall far from the tree either, and makes a great cider. And this sweet cider serves as an excellent base for late summer cocktails like the Sparkling Pear Cider, which can be enjoyed later in the year. Needed for this:

• 2 pears
• 4 shots burbon
• 500 ml pear cider, for example the Magners Pear
• 2 lemon slices
• 4 teaspoons cinnamon
• Crushed ice

As with sangria, the ingredients are placed in a pitcher and stirred. The drinks are then served cold and are best enjoyed in a lounge with jazz playing to match the classiness of the drink.

CONCLUSION

At House of Beer , we believe in beer diversity and broadening gastronomic horizons. And sometimes you have to look further than the beer glass. Because it's not always beer that shines golden - sometimes cider and its derivatives also bring new moments of happiness to the palate.