REVIEW: THIS FOOD THAT WINE; wine food and pairing made easy

THIS FOOD THAT WINE; wine food and pairing made easy (McArthur &
Company, 2007, 377 pages, ISBN 978-1-55278-684-0, $29.95 paper covers)
is by Angie MacRae and Stacey Metulynsky, co-hosts of the Food Network
show of the same name as the book's title. This is a companion book to
the TV series. Here are 150 recipes emphasizing simple, fresh and big
flavours. Each recipe is accompanied by wine pairing suggestions and
explanations, such as why some wines work and others do not. Usually,
there is a main wine match and a secondary wine for each recipe.
Canadian content abounds with baco noir, vidal, and icewine being
covered. All recipe ingredients are expressed in both metric and
imperial measurements, a bonus in production. The index includes
varietal names, but it needs fine tuning. For instance, under the
heading of "merlot" there are beef matches and pork matches generically
indicated. But looking under "beef", I found only 8 recipes and no
wines were cited for matching. You can check out more wine matches at
Stacey's website www.groovygrapes.com .
Audience and level of use: whoever wants to know more about food and
wine pairing.
Some interesting or unusual recipes/facts: lemon chicken lollipops
(match with gewurztraminer or prosecco); pan fried trout (riesling);
roquefort and green apple tart (off-dry riesling); poached halibut
provencal (white Rhone or Italian soave); roast chicken (oaked
chardonnay or pinot noir); vegetable phyllo roll (cabernet franc).
The downside to this book: too much space wasted on the introductory
wine stuff, which is common and found everywhere. I could scream...
The upside to this book: breezy style sells: the book appeals to a
younger crowd, not to old fogeys.
Quality/Price Rating: 88.

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