Great Tastes Made Simple: Extraordinary Food and Wine Pairing for Every Palate

The author of Great Wine Made Simple now adds great eating to her repertoire, showing how to enhance the flavor of even the most casual meals with winning wine selections.

Most wine experts’ advice on wine and food pairings consists of rigid rules that apply largely to haute cuisine and luxury wines. But, in her trademark accessible style, Andrea Immer now takes the mystery out of choosing wine for food–and vice versa. Great Tastes Made Simple unlocks the secrets of basic food tastes–sweet, earthy, savory, buttery, tart, and spicy–and their particular wine affinities.

Giving even ordinary meals extraordinary flavor, Immer shows readers how to bring the flavor alchemy of wine to everyday fare from burgers (with Zinfandel) to macaroni and cheese (with Rioja Crianza). She calls Pinot Grigio her “tuna helper” and likes barbecued brisket with Valpolicella. There’s also plenty of more sophisticated eating, including smoked salmon and Riesling; asparagus hollandaise and Champagne; wild mushroom risotto and California Pinot Noir, to name a few upscale matches. In fact, there isn’t a food or category of food–including a panoply of cheeses, ethnic foods, and desserts–for which Immer doesn’t provide a match and the reasons why they work so well. Chart of mouthwatering pairings and an easy-to-use index make finding wonderful wine and food combinations a snap.

Zeroing in on “wine-loving food”–those flavors, textures, and cooking techniques that truly dazzle when paired with wine–Immer demonstrates how to get the maximum enjoyment out of every food and wine encounter. A selection of twenty recipes–Low Country Shrimp and Grits (think Chardonnay), Beet Risotto (Pinot Noir), Short Rib Ragù (brawny reds), and Warm Chocolate Torte (Madeira)–provides delicious examples of wine-loving dishes and cooking techniques that will become part of every wine-loving cook’s repertoire.

Invaluable in restaurant settings and at home, this innovative guide can make every meal a cause for celebration.

Andrea Immer, the author of Great Wine Made Simple and Andrea Immer’s Wine Buying Guide for Everyone (May 2002), is a graduate and the dean of wine studies at The French Culinary Institute in New York City and the wine columnist for Esquire. She is one of just ten women in the world to hold the title of Master Sommelier and was the first woman ever chosen Best Sommelier in America. Formerly the beverage director of Windows on the World, Immer lives in Stamford, Connecticut.