At our house, I am not sure which we have more of- wine books or cookbooks.
Surprisingly, they all seem to get used at some time or another. Recently, however, I received a wine/cookbook that I am certain will be used with great regularity in our house...
The full title of the book is Perfect Pairings: A Master Sommelier's Practical Advice for Partnering Wine with Food. The author is dynamic wine professional Evan Goldstein. His approach is both as a wine expert and a genuine foodie and home chef.
The book is further enhanced by the collaboration with Evan's celebrated chef and cookbook author mom, Joyce Goldstein. Her diverse and scrumptious-sounding recipes will draw anyone into the kitchen. Also worth mentioning is the physical beauty of this book- it is handsome and formatted in a user-friendly way- and the photographs by Joyce Oudkerk Pool are lovely. But the real appeal of this hot-off-the-press book is the content.
This is a book about relationships and I think it is fair to say that the relationship between wine and food is a very important one for many of us. We want our food and wine to go together. A mismatch of wine and food is a culinary disaster. It is a disservice to both the wine and the food. It should be avoided at all costs. This book shows you exactly how to do that. Perfect Pairings is comprehensive and thorough, but it is in no way overly simplified or pedantic. It enables the reader to create their own perfect pairings by providing them with the characteristics of the wine and food.
The chapter titled, 'Creating Pairings that Work', outlines the fundamentals of both wine and food so that the reader can make their own wise choices about what to pair. The “cheat sheet†is brilliant- it lists flavor profiles like this:
When the wine is:
Tart
Sweet
Oaky
Aged
Etc. etc.
Then it provides a guideline of what kinds of foods pair well with wines of those characteristics. Goldstein accomplishes the same on the food side:
When the food is:
Tart
Salty
Spicy
Bitter
Etc. etc.
The book continues on with comprehensive chapters on specific wines accompanied by many awesome recipes. In addition, there are excellent chapters titled, 'Pairing when Dining Out', The 'Hall of Fame' of International wineries, a glossary, and a recommended reading list. Overall, this book contains a wealth of information about both food and wine. It is so well done that a beginner foodie will eat it up and a professional chef will learn a thing or twenty. It is a contemporary book, but one for the ages (this is how I want to eat and drink forever.) Perfect Pairings is the best wine/cookbook I have read. In our house, we will rely on its guidance.
It also makes a great gift for winey/foodie friends and family.
Perfect Pairings: A Master Sommelier's Practical Advice for Partnering Wine with Food
By Evan Goldstein
Recipes by Joyce Goldstein
University of California Press 2006
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