Weekend Cooking: Cheese Beer Wine Cider by Steve Jones and Adam Lindsley

Wine and cheese seem like a marriage made in heaven. It's everyone's go-to for a light weekend lunch, afternoon on the deck, or pre-dinner nibble. But do you really know which cheeses go with which wines? I'm never completely sure.

Enter Cheese Beer Wine Cider by Steve Jones and Adam Lindsley (Countryman Press, March 19), your guide to the best drink for 75 different kinds of cheese. Wine, you may be surprised to learn, is not always the best choice. Some cheeses go better with beer, and cider is a surprisingly safe choice.

What's in the book: Jones and Lindsley start out by sharing tips on buying, storing, and serving cheese. They do the same for the alcohol, and then explain how they came up with the pairings and how to create your own.

Each pairing starts with the cheese, which could be a very specific cheese from a particular dairy (Vermont Creamery's Cremont) or a general category (Munster). The authors provide details about the cheese (country of origin, family, milk type) and alternative "brands" or types and then tell us more about where the cheese is made, its history, its taste profile, and so on.

Next is the specific wine, beer, or cider that goes with that cheese. The alcohol is identified by vineyard or brewery, country of origin, and style. The authors suggest substitutes for the listed drink and then provide details similar to the cheese.

Finally, we learn why the pairing works. Successful pairings take into consideration flavors, pH, sweetness or dryness, textures, richness, temperature, and more.

Throughout are "Quick Bite" information boxes that present all kinds of interesting facts. For example, we learn about the differences among farmstead, artisan, and cooperative cheeses; about wild yeasts; about what types of apples make the best ciders; and about the German purity laws and beer.

My thoughts: I really enjoyed reading Cheese Beer Wine Cider, and I'm looking forward to putting together some tastings to share with friends. Jones and Lindsley provide a ton of great information, which makes the book worth reading for anyone interested in cheese and drink.

My success with Cheese Beer Wine Cider is going to depend on how closely I can find the drinks. Here in Pennsylvania, I'll probably have much more trouble tracking down the specific wines and ciders than the suggested beers, though I'm sure I'll be able to find workable alternatives. On the other hand, I should have little problem buying the suggested cheeses or good locally produced substitutes.

If you live in a big city or in a West Coast state, I bet you'll easily be able to buy the exact cheese and drink pairings listed in Cheese Beer Wine Cider. I hope you give some of them a try.

Recommendation: Cheese Beer Wine Cider by Steve Jones and Adam Lindsley will appeal to anyone who wants to learn more about cheese, wine, beer, and cider. The book includes a lot of interesting general information as well as the specific pairings. As fun and informative as this book is, however, I suggest you check it out from the library before buying.

Thanks: Digital review copy provided by the publisher. The scan comes from the book and is used here in the context of a review; all rights remain with the original copyright holder.

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