Wine with Food

Rating:
Summary: Disappointment for USA readers
Review: I have had this book for several months and read through it several times before deciding to alert USA readers they are likely to be disappointed with its contents. While the wine discussions are informative, the discussion of pairing them with foods is decidely European. You will seldom find these meals or even their ingredients in America. Those in the USA would be better served with: The Wine Lover's Cookbook: Great Recipes for the Perfect Glass of Wine
by Sid Goldstein

Rating:
Summary: Tremendously Useful
Review: I've gone from completely ignorant to very successful in pairing wines with food simply by using this book. I've owned it for 3 years, and frequently bring it with me to my wine shop before a dinner party. It starts by explaining the major characteristics in food and wine to consider when pairing them--weight, intensity, acidity, salt, sweetness, and tannin, then goes on to warn about tough to match condiments like horseradish. It discusses the ways how a food is cooked can affect your choice of wine giving pairing suggestions all along the way. Then it briefly describes characteristics of the major wine grapes, and traditional ethnic food/wine combinations from all over the globe. I don't know about you, but I'm glad she offered help with what wine to buy for my take-out Thai Massaman curry. [And I hadn't even heard of marsanne wine before.] Furthermore, Ms. Simon's taste is impecable, with common dishes or hard-to-match ethnic foods that don't have a classic match. She clearly has such a mastery of flavors that she knows that a lesser known French selection will work with, say, shrimp tempura.

I've practically worn out the two final quick reference sections that alphabetically list many foods with suggested wines, and many wines with suggested foods. They're worth the price of the book alone. Since she obviously can't list all foods, it's true that you sometimes have to extrapolate, like when I wanted something light to go with my holiday brunch featuring French toast and decided that anything that would go with sweet, eggy meringues [which she included] would probably work. I ended up with an Asti that couldn't be more perfect. Brava, Joanna Simon.

Rating:
Summary: Tremendously Useful
Review: I've gone from completely ignorant to very successful in pairing wines with food simply by using this book. I've owned it for 3 years, and frequently bring it with me to my wine shop before a dinner party. It starts by explaining the major characteristics in food and wine to consider when pairing them--weight, intensity, acidity, salt, sweetness, and tannin, then goes on to warn about tough to match condiments like horseradish. It discusses the ways how a food is cooked can affect your choice of wine giving pairing suggestions all along the way. Then it briefly describes characteristics of the major wine grapes, and traditional ethnic food/wine combinations from all over the globe. I don't know about you, but I'm glad she offered help with what wine to buy for my take-out Thai Massaman curry. [And I hadn't even heard of marsanne wine before.] Furthermore, Ms. Simon's taste is impecable, with common dishes or hard-to-match ethnic foods that don't have a classic match. She clearly has such a mastery of flavors that she knows that a lesser known French selection will work with, say, shrimp tempura.

I've practically worn out the two final quick reference sections that alphabetically list many foods with suggested wines, and many wines with suggested foods. They're worth the price of the book alone. Since she obviously can't list all foods, it's true that you sometimes have to extrapolate, like when I wanted something light to go with my holiday brunch featuring French toast and decided that anything that would go with sweet, eggy meringues [which she included] would probably work. I ended up with an Asti that couldn't be more perfect. Brava, Joanna Simon.

Rating:
Summary: eurocentric
Review: Joanna Simon has provided a wealth of information about teaming the right wine with the right food. This is not a cookbook; she is providing the foundations necessary to go forth and create with confidence. She discusses the rules, the effects of cooking styles, and wine varietals. Taking the regional aproach, she explores the classic foods and wine combinations of Europe,the Americas, Australia and New Zealand and then goes on to tackle the more challenging foods of Asia. The book concludes with a fabulous chart for matching an impressive list of wine varieties to food types and another for matching food to wine. I like to use this book in conjuntion with Sid Goldstein's Wine Lover's Cookbook for an excellent dual-approach: Simon is heavier on the wines and Goldstein heavier on the food. Together they provide novice and expert alike with a solid grounding and the desire to eat and drink well.

Rating:
Summary: eurocentric
Review: This book is extremely eurocentric and not very useful for an American cook. Simon essentially dismisses "new world" wines and pairs English cooking with European (ie French) wines. Some of the general rules are helpful but I do not want or need to know what wine to serve with kippers!