What to Drink with What You Eat: The Definitive Guide to Pairing Food with Wine, Beer, Spirits, Coffee, Tea - Even Water - Based on Expert Advice from America's Best Sommeliers

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(3 1/2 stars)

After reading the slew of five-star reviews for this volume, today I drove to Barnes & Noble fully ready to purchase it. After spending a fair amount of time in the aisle surveying its contents, I ended up not getting it, and thought I would explain why not for the sake of those Amazon readers whose considerations might be similar to my own.

I think the issues of relevance are 'who you are' and what you're looking for in a book like this. I certainly understand why great wine aficionados (presumably with money and time), critics, sommeliers, restaurateurs and the like would desire and benefit from a work of such sophistication and scope. But for the hobbyist (like myself), it was just too much. A little 'highbrow' for me -- and I suspect I'm not alone. I didn't find it nearly as accessible as, for example, Karen MacNeil's Wine, Food, and Friends (which I bought). MacNeil's book has a seasonal presentation, and, while evidencing an expert's range of knowledge, seeks not to lose sight of practical concerns (such as $$). In a nutshell, What To Drink . . . has a more encyclopedic approach (and does include beverages beyond wine), while MacNeil's is user-friendly and more what I was looking for. I wish it were possible to buy chapters 5 & 6 of Dornenburg & Page's book separately, because they comprise a tremendous resource for ongoing reference. The one surprise regarding Dornenburg & Page was that in a product of such erudition, it lacked an index.

So, bearing in mind the two questions I started with, I hope some of these thoughts will be helpful in informing your purchasing decision.

Are you curious about what wine to order with your cheesecake? Intimidated by five-hundred page wine list at a top restaurant? Downright scared when the sommelier comes charging toward your table?

Relax. Authors Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page have created a resource that helps even the `average Joe or Jane' understand the principles of wine and food pairing. They take the conventional, canned, old-school advice of "red wine with meat, white wine with fish" to an entirely new level, based on insights learned from their previous books on cuisine, as well as interviews with America's top, cutting-edge sommeliers.

In many ways, the format of What to Drink with What You Eat resembles a substantial wine/food pairing encyclopedia specifically designed to be quickly skimmed before heading off to a restaurant or purchasing wine for a dinner party. For example, let's say you are entertaining clients at a steakhouse, and want to sound intelligent about wine. You know red wine typically goes with red meat, but which red? Old world or new? And what are the virtues of each? By spending just five minutes with this book (and perhaps jotting down some notes) you will be able to help your guests order a Shiraz, Barbaresco, Barolo, or good old Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon based on the elements of the sauce and cut of meat they choose.

In a similar fashion, let's say you want to dazzle your friends and show off your new kitchen with a fabulous dinner party. Spend a few moments with this book and you will be able to pair every element of your menu with an exciting, unusual wine. No need to consult a professional wine expert, as you have this knowledge at your fingertips.

Sommeliers interviewed for this book are mostly young and more free-thinking than sommeliers of years past. They are enthusiastic about wine, regardless of it's an exciting, new world find of exceptional value, or a fine-aged Bordeaux worth hundreds of dollars. As a group, they see their mission as helping you find a good wine to accessorize your meal within your price range. And the individual quotes from sommeliers are what makes this book so fresh and appealing.

For example, Steve Beckta of Beckta Dining & Wine in Ottawa believes that as a sommelier, it is almost more important to match a wine to a person than to match the wine to the food. Curious thought! "The most important part of being a sommelier is not your ability to taste, but your ability to empathize with the person who is in front of you," he explains in the book.

How very true. In one instance, Beckta recalls three `big businessmen' sitting at a table. One wants lamb, one wants halibut, and the other guy wants scallops. They tell him they want the "perfect" wine that matches all three, dissimilar dishes. By carefully listening to the subtext of what they are telling him, Beckta realizes they are after a wine that fits into their comfort zone, not necessarily the best match. To him, that means a "big red" from Australia and as it turns out, the businessmen love it.

Sommelier Alpana Singh, formerly of Everest in Chicago (now with the Lettuce Entertainment Group) agrees that comfort is important. She likes to serve California wines on big holidays like New Year's Eve and Valentine's Day, because people who dine out only a few `special nights' a year want something they can recognize and appreciate.

If you entertain or dine out frequently, What To Drink with What You Eat is a dynamic desktop resource and wine and food pairing primer that will stimulate you to learn more about wine by further reading or classes. If you like oaky Chardonnay, for example, this book will also motivate you to try unoaked Chardonnay wines and realize the difference, especially when paired with food. Yet what works best about this book is the way you can take advantage of the authors' extensive research and with just a few minutes of skimming, come across as a credible wine expert in front of clients, colleagues, family and friends.

Wine lovers, from the casual sippers to professional Sommeliers, will find solid, clear advice here, in a well organized format. I worked for many years as a Sommelier and served as Education Director for the Sommelier Society of America, and I can say that no one had done as good a job of making it easy for you to choose a wine that will not only "match" with your meal, but will make your dining (and drinking) experience more enjoyable. This book is bound to become one of the indispensible food and wine books that I keep at hand: a classic in the making. I cannot recommend this book more highly.

This is truly spectacular aid to matching food with drink. We all are creatures of the tried and liked comfort zone of doing this. Found something, stay with it. Don't change a winning game.

Tough to venture out when don't know the lay of the land. But here in this rich, well done, nearly 350 page compendium are the helps to move us into new food/drink heavenly combos. In the similar style as their classics: Becoming Chef and Culinary Artistry, authors talk with famous chefs and drink experts and then combine all this into workable format for such expansion to happen among us. There are many sections to this, but one that takes off on same tangent as Culinary Artistry is alphabetically by various subjects listing of what goes well with what, e.g. Crayfish = especial winners as New World Chardonnarys, chablis, and white burgundy, with some other suggestions as well. Or one can go the other route of what goes with Chardonnay and we find crayfish, but super special combos recommended include: Crab and cream sauces, chicken in cream sauce, lobster and veal. There are minute details here, which is superb value of this. Reminds me of my first exposure to wine/food pairings. I would go to this wine store where this expert would make recommendations. He would ask what's the food to match: I would say lasagna. He would ask, what are the herbs and how much garlic, tomato sauce, etc. Never forget when he recommeded a French rose for a steak with complex butter. Hated rose till made that combo. THIS BOOK GIVES THAT KIND OF ADVICE AND DETAIL.

The writing is superb, e.g. this overall desription of its objective which it easily meets: "Sampling new beverages is typically a low-risk proposition--with a high potential payoff."

The richness of the paperstock, photos and printing are perfect stylistic choices to this wonderful, useful resource. Not only for wine and food pairings, but also waters, beers, teas, etc. Their are tips on how to taste, how to start with something you like and move on to others one probably will enjoy discovering, etc.

Renown chefs and sommeliers provide their pairing favorites along with some recipes. Haven't found it yet, but what I have found so valuable is my dossier that I keep on food/drink pairings, when possible removing label off drinks to put in this diary. Would have been nice to find sample of this. Maybe I'll discover it already included, or maybe for second printing?

You can't go wrong on securing this for yourself or as gift.

The dust on my furniture is thickening, the phone is ringing, my dog wants a walk...Sorry, I am selecting which beverage to serve tomorrow nite with peel-and-eat shrimp...oh, what fun!! Watch out because once you open this book, it will be awhile before you rejoin the world: It's pure facination and empowerment (!) for an avid foodie who has never been quite certain of what wine to serve without groveling at the local wine shop! And it's not just about wine; there are fabulous suggestions for beer, citrus drinks, tea....

There are already excellent reviews (in my opinion) so I don't want to reinvent the wheel by raving on the photos, the organization, the pure depth of information, the perfection of this book. But if you have stopped on this page, you probably also own a dog-eared, raggedy, finger-smudged copy of "Culinary Artistry" (somewhat like mine is?) and suffice to say that while this is a much more beautiful book and may not necessarily be sitting next to your stove (although there are wonderful recipes...)you will probably refer to it as often.

Suggestion: Read the more in-depth reviews, click to order....and purchase those little anti-static dust cloths. I haven't figured out what to do about the dog yet...

First off, it's very wide ranging and is incredibly easy to use. All of the recommendations in this book have come from top notch chefs and sommeliers, so you know they can be trusted. You'll often find a wealth of options to choose from, due to the democratic group effort behind this. You'll also get more than just wine, which is incredibly refreshing. Some refuse to admit it, but there are dishes that simply work better with other drinks. They go above simply listing "beer" and will put "lager", "wheat beer", etc., which is nice.

The book uses a system of bold print, capital letters, and asterisks to point out which drinks work particularly well. It's also nice to see a section afterwards that does the reverse and is listed by drink and then has food suggestions. Sometimes you want to build the meal around a special bottle of wine instead of vice versa. After that comes specific recommendations from some of the well known contributors to the book. It's an almost flawless book. Except....

....the book is very poorly edited and, in at least two cases, factually inaccurate. Jean-Luc Le Du is either misquoted, misinformed, or simply misspoke. The quote: "Where to find great Cabernet Sauvignon: This would be a toss-up between hillside vineyards in California and Pomerol in France." I had to do a double take...Pomerol? For Cab Sauv? Huh? Not only that, I noticed this statement in two different parts of the book. I'm assuming M. Le Du meant to say Pauillac, as Pomerol is, of course, known for Merlot, which makes up most or all (80-100%, usually) of the wine blend there. Even if there is Cab Sauv in the blend, it's a minimal amount of the wine. I can understand misspeaking and saying Pomerol when you mean Pauillac; it happens. But how this obvious factual error ended up in the final print of the book is beyond me. Anyone that buys a Pomerol expecting a shining example of Cab Sauv will be disappointed (although they may end up with some of the world's best Merlot.)

I've also noticed another factual error concerning the retail price of a certain wine; they mention Sequoia Grove Cabernet Sauvignon as a great value wine at $10 a bottle. It actually retails for around $30-$35 a bottle, not $10.

While I have yet to find any other major errors in the text (not that I'm actively searching for them, but maybe I should), I have noticed a couple grammatical blunders; missing punctuation, spelling errors and such. It's disappointing to see easily correctable errors like this mar an otherwise fantastic book. That being said, don't let these gripes deter you from buying this excellent reference source for food and drink pairings. Clean up the grammar and factual errors and this becomes a 5 star book.

I bought this book for help in selecting ten wines to keep on hand for all occasions. And it worked! Now, whether I'm roasting a chicken or ordering in Thai food, there's always a good bottle to go with dinner. The bonus is the all the fascinating info (why Ph matters) and anecdotes (chef Patrick O'Connell on how easily he turned his whole staff into wine enthusiasts). Beautiful photographs, beautifully written. A great gift for the holidays or for engaged couples.

I may run out of superlatives in the course of this review, so I'm just warning you now. What to Drink with What You Eat is absolutely the most spectacular book ever written about pairing food with wine. It will turn you instantly into a world-class sommelier, confidently able to pair virtually any cuisine with a compatible choice. What's more, the recommendations extend far beyond wine to include beer, sake, spirits coffee, tea and different types of water, so even a teetotaler can derive some value. There isn't a food- or wine-lover on the planet who wouldn't benefit from having the book always on hand as a resource.

The secret sauce here is that the authors, who have great credentials themselves, have also enlisted the input of dozens of top sommeliers and other authorities to create an uber-reference, one that gains considerably from its generous tendency to be more rather than less inclusive in offering up suggestions. Think of the principle of "the wisdom of crowds," but here the crowd are all experts and have the chops to back up their opinions. The list of foods, cuisines and beverages that are explored is truly encyclopedic, so odds are pretty good whatever you want advice on will be covered. For example, speaking of secret sauce, you'll even get suggested pairings with a Big Mac.

The crowning glories of the book are chapters 5 and 6, which really should be turned into a searchable database online and made available via PDA. These chapters are mirror images, one that starts with the beverage and suggests foods, and the other that starts with the food and matches the drinks. I'm telling it to you straight: if you've ever had a moment's hesitation about what to bring to a dinner party or just flat out what might go best with your frozen pizza, the answer is at hand. Wanna build the meal around a special bottle of wine? No problem. In fact, I'm not sure this book isn't subversive in the sense that it does such a great job of simplifying a complicated subject and making it accessible that it renders real-life sommeliers unnecessary.

Of course, that's a ridiculous notion; I'm just stating it for effect. You still need a sommelier to put together a wine list, add a personal perspective, precisely match the cuisine of a restaurant to its wines and gauge the "readiness" of any particular client to explore new territory. But if you live in New Jersey, where the only advantage of archaic, Prohibition-based liquor laws is the plethora of BYO restaurants and thus there are very few sommeliers period, this book is like manna from heaven.

I don't mean to imply that What to Eat is prescriptive to the point where you aren't allowed to express yourself and exercise free will. Quite the contrary. The book does a splendid job in the first few chapters of breaking down various pairing conventions developed over the past 20 years (plus of course the most classic matches) and providing guidelines that anyone can build on, and the authors encourage imagination and experimentation.

Let's go with a real life example, my first since I bought the book, and quite an "acid" test at that. I was asked by a hostess to suggest something that might go with roasted sea bass served with a Mediterranean ragout of red peppers, tomatoes, olives, and capers. My first instinct when approaching anything Mediterranean is to go with the "territory," which means for me clinging to the coastline from Provence to Sicily. Here I would have gravitated toward a white because a tannic red wouldn't go anyway and it's summer now and a chill is definitely welcome. Besides, I'm not sophisticated enough to figure out what to do with capers to begin with, so why not let a thousand years of local experience do the hard work for me? Then, I turned to chapter 5 and looked up sea bass. There were 16 suggestions, but nothing related to a Mediterranean ragout, which would clearly provide the dominant flavors to the dish. So with a little trepidation (are they going to whiff on my first challenge?), I looked for "Mediterranean" and sure enough found the following entry: "Mediterranean Cuisine (eg anchovies, olives, peppers, etc) Champagne, rose; Chateauneuf-du-pape, white; Pinot blanc; red wine, esp. tart Old World; rose; verdicchio, esp with onion-based dishes." Not feeling wholly comfortable yet, I cross-referenced the pesky caper and found: "Beaujolais, high acid; beer; Muscadet; Pinot Grigio/ Pinot gris, esp. dry; Pinot Noir, esp from Russian River Valley." That's enough breadth for anyone to find an appealing option.

The genius of the book is the exhaustive number of dishes and international cuisines covered. I'm sure there are some things you can eat that aren't paired here, but I'm not sure why you would want to! Also, while it wasn't true for my sea bass, many if not most of the listings actually go a step further and provide recommendations specific to the actual method of preparation. It's not just one size fits all. Pasta with artichokes? Check. Pasta with sardines? Check. You get the idea.


I haven't been this excited about a wine book in a couple of years, maybe since reading Andrew Jefford's The New France The New France: A Complete Guide to Contemporary French Wine (Mitchell Beazley Wine Guides). If you have even a passing interest in drinking wine with your meals you'd be crazy not to buy this book. It has the potential to enrich every dinner (and the occasional lunch/brunch/breakfast?/snack) you eat for the rest of your life, and if that isn't enough hyperbole, I don't know what is.

Fine background and justification for why certain liquids do - or do not -pair well with certain foods. Good reading. Best part - the easy-to-use guides. What foods (from A to Z) go with what wines. Then, a listing of wines to food. So, you can find the pairing for the grilled salmon (ex. buttery California Chardonnay) or designate a mate for that great bottle of Rioja (ex. grilled lamb). Several recipes/comments from famous chefs, etc. - but the pairing guides are the best part. I bought this book for a birthday gift, but read it on a car trip. Kept it. Bought two more for birthday gifts!

There have been a number of books over the years trying to teach the pairing of food and wine. David Rosenthal's "Red Wine with Fish" was a particularly notable effort. Where most of these books fell down was that they made me feel I was struggling to get a Master's Degree in an obscure subject. Fact is, this is what I do for a living, so this isn't an obscure subject to me.

Dorenburg and Page were smart enough to enlist the help of a bevy of star players. Their clever compilations of recommendations are typographically coded to let you know what wines are "frequently recommended," "HIGHLY RECOMMENDED," and the "*HOLY GRAIL" of pairings, matchups we should all experience at least once in our lives.

A great resource. A great read.

Fabulous book! I checked it out of the library to read, but have added it to my library. Being fairly new to the sophistication of wine (after a recent trip to Napa, a light went on!), I've been struggling to find the best match with food and wine. Tasting isn't enough, and this book provides such a depth of information. Covering not only wine paring, but beer, sake, tea, water and more, it's the most comprehensive guide that I've found to date. The discussions are clear, concise, and fun. The extensive guide to matching food to wines (even Kentucky Fried Chicken!) and wines to food is going to be an invaluable reference for me. Highly recommended!

After learning to cook, I looked forward to serving new dishes to guests -- but found I was hesitant about entertaining because I never knew what wines to serve. I was tired of being dependent on my local wine store for recommendations that often seemed to be more about what they wanted to sell than what went with what I was cooking. WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT provides such thorough recommendations that it's easy to come up with the perfect match. I'm looking forward to entertaining again, now that I can serve wine and other drinks with equal grace to the food I prepare. And my non-drinking guests benefit, too, given all of the innovative recommendations for non-alcoholic beverages.

Want to know what to drink with Indian cuisine, fajitas, or White Castle hamburgers? Looking for a delicious match for cabernet, sparkling fruit juice, or root beet? From almonds to zucchini, and ale to zinfandel, Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page's What to Drink with What You Eat has it covered. Whether you enjoy an evening cocktail or remain a teetotaler, you'll find plenty to savor in this guide to drinking.

The first rule? "Think regionally." Of course: a nice Riesling with some buttery German cheeses. Who would have thought it could be that simple? In case these pairings don't come to you effortlessly, you can peruse the suggestions for France, Italy, Spain, and Germany.

Looking to become more adventurous in your drink selections? The authors include a handy guide called, "If You Like This, You Might Also Like That." If you like champagne, for example, you might like lambic beer or sparkling sake--quite a relief for those of us who stare at the bar trying to think of something new to try and walk away with some awful concoction we can hardly stomach.

The two pairing glossaries--one by drink and one by food--are particularly helpful because of the wealth of items listed and the rating system explaining which pairings are divine and which are simply adequate. By the way, water goes best with Caesar salad, light seafood, and dessert.

For the truly gourmet, the pairing menus toward the end can help you impress even the most discriminating dinner guests. And be sure to take a peak at the desert island lists--what they can't go without!--offered by everyone from Rocco Dispirito to the brewmaster of the Brooklyn Brewery.

Lest you think the authors have left out any crucial elements, the tasting chart at the end of the book is just the key to put all these great suggestions to use on your path to heavenly dining--and drinking. Before you know it, you'll be dreaming of Rick Bayless's pairing of squash blossom soup and a Portuguese wine you're still learning how to pronounce it.

Armchair Interviews says: Yummy-and a "to your health."

"What to Drink.." makes entertaining entertaining again. With the rebirth of cocktails, I have a difficult time matching appetizers with scotch, bourbon, martinis, sweet drinks, mineral waters, "virgin" cocktails, etc- This book is the ultimate match maker and a great read to boot. It is the perfect gift for weddings, birthdays,and holidays. I suspect there will be a well worn copy behind every restaurant bar across the country.

WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT is a beautiful book filled with great ideas of what to wines and other beverages (from iced tea to lemonade) to serve with different dishes. The photography is absolutely mouth-watering! It's fun to flip through and read about what to serve with everything from chicken to chocolate brownies. This book is definitely worth the price.

I am soon to open my First restaurant. Being a chef not only did this book help me brush up it even expanded my paring knowledge. I have also used it as a training tool with my employees and recommended it to them. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys food.

If I had to pare down all my wine books to the top two or three, this book would be one of them. It is just simply That Good and That Useful. Being a newbie to exploring the world of wine, I'm discovering my likes and dislikes, forming my palate, and constantly asking questions and researching. What to Drink with What You Eat has helped me to think outside the box, to understand why pairings work or don't work, and to make dining out a real pleasure.

For example, I researched the pairings for a 1996 Chateau Lanessan Bordeaux, which I had never tasted before, as well as pairings for a Yalumba Antique Tawny Port for dessert. A friend and I discussed the menu and the pairings, and made our selections accordingly. This resulted in a dinner that will not be forgotten by either of us for a long time to come, and much credit goes to this marvelous book.

Better yet, this is not a book to be read once or twice and then shelved. Oh no. I keep returning to it, to look up a food or a wine, or to answer some questions. It's also a pleasure to leaf through, and the comments from the sommeliers and others lend a very personal tone to the book, because they're speaking from sheer experience, whether they screwed up on a pairing or had to deal with narrow-minded diners or discovered their own favorite pairings.

My delighted thanks to Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page! I may get another copy in case this should ever go out of print (horrors! may that never happen!).

I have used culinary artistry for quite a few years and it is still an outstanding book. This new book is great as well, but they should have stuck with the original layout of culinary artistry which is less confusing to read. Overall another great addition by Dornenberg and Page! It is a very interesting read and will be a great references for menu writing.

This book is AMAZING! It even tells you what to drink with a Kit Kat bar...Great Format...easy to use...one of the best all around books whether you are a big entertainer or whether you just want the right pairings for a romantic dinner for two.

After reading the 3star review, I decided to do the same - drive to my local bookstore and peruse the book in person. I agree that the main reason to buy is the chapter on pairings, but considering this is the bulk of the book, it is worth every penny, whether you are a wine, beer or tea lover. I am personally on a quest to try every bolded, capitalized pairing (those quintessential flavor experiences) in the book!

I have been "into" wine for a long time (before it became mainstream to
be "into" wine). I have tasted many different varieties of wines from all over the world, have many books on wine and love finding that perfect match between food and wine. I love having wine with my meals and when you can get that perfect match -- it can be heaven.

This wine book is amazing!!! In one section they go through every wine imaginable and tell you what foods will go with it -- HIGHLIGHTING those foods which will go VERY good with it. Then they have another section in which they do the complete opposite (I.E. given a food, what wine will go with it).

There are lots of comments by great chefs, recipes and a section where
each chef lists his favorite wines and what he likes to pair with it.

I love this book and highly recommend it.

I like to give this as a gift to all the people getting married or buying homes. I personalize it by then finding a wine or drink to go with their favorite food. Its nice that it is organized both by if you had a bottle of wine and trying to find what to eat with it, or you have a meal and want to find a special drink. And its not just wine!

I've really enjoyed referencing this book. I am a catering sales manager and it's so nice when the sommelier isn't in to be able to make some great recommendations for my clients. I would highly recommend this book to anyone - not just someone in catering! It makes it so nice to have dinner and know that you made a good selection with the wine pairing.

This book is excellent for all of your food pairing needs. Additionally, it includes pairing for more eccentric wines and is the perfect way to decide what to cook based on what you want to drink or vice versa. It is the perfect gift for anyone who loves to cook, loves to eat, and/or loves to drink.

It is a must for those who wish to take their enjoyment of wine and food to the next level, by creating the perfect food and wine pairing.

Additionally, it is a great joy to try various combinations as suggested and find your own personal favorite as well as see how the food can highlight the wine or the wine enhance the flavors of the food.

This book can help match even the most difficult of food and goes beyond the basics. This book goes way beyond reds with red meat and white with fish, and will in fact suggest pairings that are a surprise and a delight.

This book is a HIGH recommendation.

I bought this for my husband who is the cook in our family. In the past few years he has been expanding his knowledge of wines and especially loves pairing good wine with good food. He (who reads 2 books a year, maybe) read this from cover to cover in a few days. He loved every bit of it - the commentary, the reviews of restaurants, the wine and food education and everything in between. It was one of the best gifts I ever gave him. He even consulted it to make our dinner reservations on a trip to NYC. We were not disappointed (Veritas and Hearth in case you are wondering). This book is spectacular!

I am in the wine industry as well as a Wine lover (a bit of an understatement) I love this book so much! I constantly reference this book at work, at parties, and at my kitchen counter. I have bought it for friends, and am even considering having more than one copy for myself. I cannot say enough about my love for this book!
CHEERS and happy pairing.

I recently had to do a food and wine pairing for class. Considering i'm still in school, I had no idea what to do.After talking to a chef instructor, I decided that this book would benefit me in both school and out in the industry. I mean, it even pairs water. Yeah, this book is definately worth every cent.

Finally a definitively delicious, all in one place, concentration of pairings! After hours of searching the internet for "wine pairings with __________", I stumble on this book. Here it is, all in one place!

Everyone knows how to spot a wine snob, high class, arrogant, sips a little wine, smells it. Well now you can be that person w/o having to be arrogant. This book will explain what wines go with what foods, why you sniff a wine, how to taste it, what to look for in a wine and many other fun facts.

Everyone knows that red meat and red wine go well together but what goes well with a roast,or short ribs, heck even meatloaf? This book will help you.It goes beyond just main ingredients, it teaches you to also look at the other aspects of it as well such as different herbs, spices, the marinade you use, and how your going to cook it. Even mashed potatoes have more than just potatoes.

I have worked in restaurants and even have a degree in culinary and I must say, this is a good point to start with and even to look back as a reference point. I own all three reference books Culinary Artistry, The Flavor Bible and this one and I read them almost every day. Great series of books by the authors, I trust these books like I trust my chefs at school.

I use this book in my wine shop to help customers decide on which wines to pair with their menus. I have started selling it now, since they are thrilled with the details and actually 'read' the book rather than use only as a reference.
Maureen

Very well layed-out book with excellent content. They do have almost everything; even corned beef and also cabbage, but not corned beef and cabbage. How cool it is to match food and wine together. I found a site that gives additional help; check out www.matchmywine.com

"What to Drink with What You Eat" is a comprehensive resource to guide anyone interested in pairing the right beverage with whatever you may be serving. It is a must have reference for the serious host or hostess.[...]

This book is organized so that one can look up by beverage (wine varietal, beer, etc.) to find suggestions for a food that goes well with it or, conversely, look up the food one intends to serve and find the drinks that will enhance it. Simple, well organized, very nicely done.

This book is a great resource. It is the only one I found that covers cocktails and other drinks...not just wine.

I wish, however, that it focused more on cocktails and other drinks and left out wines. There are so many other resources out there already covering wine.

I was sad to find that some of the food items I looked up only had wine pairing suggestions.

But, like I said above, it is a great resource and worth the purchase.

This is the best book of it's type that I have ever seen. It covers just about every food and type of food you can think of and isn't just a wine pairing book - it covers beer and other beverages as well. A must have!