Book Review

Wine Lover’s Kitchen

By Fiona Beckett Ryland Peters & Small 2017 $35 B eckett is a wine columnist for The Guardian in the U.K. and has (p.78), many are quick and easy, and some very intriguing. experience pairing food with wine, so it The “Red wine spaghetti with olives and seems likely using wine in cooking comes anchovies” recipe on p.281 actually has you naturally. She encourages experimentation cooking the pasta in red wine. Although a with wine in all types of dishes, beyond the lot of the recipes are meat-based, there is classic “Coq au vin” (p.90), where a whole potential for vegetables and basic sauces, bottle is called for. She sure gives you a lot jams, and relishes (so many possibilities of inspiration for using up those leftover for the “Plum and Pinot jam” on p. 132). bits of wine (what?). It is certainly not often you see a muffin

Much in the way wine can elevate recipe with wine, but the “Red wine, blue the flavours in a dish, the photographs cheese, and pecan muffins” on p. 156, will are striking and lift the dishes off the certainly up your soup-for-lunch game. pages. Needless to say there are wine The sweets section is filled with mostly recommendations for each dish and tips typical wine infused desserts, but why not for cooking with wine. add wine to fruit crumble (“Spiced plum,

There are recipes for all courses, all red wine, and amaretti crumble” on p. 155)? seasons, and from many different cultural Beckett claims wine is the magic roots. Not all are slow braised, “Languedoc ingredient, and indeed her recipes make beef stew with red wine, herbs and olives” it so. Even recipes not needing wine as

a fundamental ingredient can benefit from that added boost of flavour. You can always start using wine by deglazing a pan to soak up the flavourful bits, and go on to opening up a bottle of Champagne just so you can make a personal favourite, the “Wild mushroom and champagne risotto” (p. 40). Whatever you try, no excuses now for leftover bits of wine!

Karen is a lawyer by trade, who claims to have been on the “know where your food comes from” bandwagon sooner than most, and now focuses on foraging her daily food from local growers.