“The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Wine and Food Pairing” by Jaclyn Stuart and Jeanette Hurt
Wine and Food Pairing by Jaclyn Stuart and Jeanette Hurt will take the mystery out of finding that perfect food and wine pairing. This book will make the perfect gift for anyone on your list who enjoys wine. This book will let you become your own expert! It takes you behind the scenes of flavor and aroma and helps you select the perfect wine to accompany your favorite dishes.
I LOVE the section in the book entitled ” A Sampling of Chefs’ Wine Menus”. I have hosted wine dinners and paired different courses with different wines — but this guide would have made it so much easier! The menus in this section cover the range from casual to once-in-a-lifetime. The menus can be duplicated exactly as they are — or used as a guideline for your own creativity. Some of the events offered in this sampling are:
Informal Home Party Featuring One Wine
Semi-Formal Home Party Featuring a Wine for Each Course
Thanksgiving Dinner
One Bottle of Wine Paired with a Restaurant Dinner Menu for Two
Another fun idea in this section is to host a Winemaker Dinner Featuring a Single Producer. Each sampling lists the recipes to prepare and the specific wines to pair them with.
I also liked the chapter on Going Out: Restaurant Wine Pairing. Many people become intimidated when faced with ordering wine in a restaurant – especially if it is for a business occasion. Have no fear! This book will make it easy for you to easily understand wine menus, order wine by the glass, understand sommelier etiquette and bottle service and how to try the chef’s menu.
To put it simply, the authors state that there are three outcomes of wine and food pairing:
- The wine will overpower the food
- The food will overpower the wine
- The wine and the food will enhance one another
