Review of wine: the second sauce of a dish

[Hubre De Klerk]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "wine: the second sauce of a dish" by Germain Jean-Marie Lehodey.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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In this book, we meet the first-ever sommelier in South Africa. The author explains that wine is the second sauce of a dish, as the paired wine should balance and enhance each dish. It is an art to match the perfect wine with a breathtaking dish so that together they complement each other exquisitely. Germain Jean-Marie Lehodey is the author of this book. He is a qualified sommelier and has worked with multiple leading chefs over the years. Today, he is semi-retired, and most of his time is spent writing and teaching us his talents and knowledge.
 
So, what exactly is a sommelier? A sommelier recommends a specific wine to pair with a specific dish to enhance the flavor of the dish, and most reputable restaurants have one. I should honestly admit that I had absolutely no idea what goes into finding the perfect pairing between a dish and a wine. I always thought it was merely white wine with white meat and red wine with red meat. Oh, I was wrong on so many levels! The wine needs to balance the dish in weight and flavor, and the author gave us five primary taste sensations to work with. Another thing that I learned in this book is that spices and sauces aren’t the main way to enhance food, as I thought. I love how the author mentioned that one of our biggest problems is that there isn’t a book telling us how things should taste. There are loads of cookbooks, but they do not explain how your dish should taste or the taste difference between a cherry from South Africa and a cherry from Germany, etc. This makes it difficult for new sommeliers to make the perfect pairings if they don’t know these things. This is a very complex but interesting process to learn about.
 
The author also gave a brief explanation about different cheeses, how their taste changes due to age, and how much their crust colors. Also, did you know that eggs are mostly placed on wooden spoons instead of metallic ones, as the eggs can then have a metallic taste? This book is blowing my mind! Did you know that where the fish lives, the temperature of the water, if it lives in deep or shallow water, etc. all affect the taste of the fish? Now tell me that isn’t mind-blowing! Once you read this book, you will be just as hooked as I am, and I don’t even have a huge knowledge of food or wines. All of this excitement, and we haven’t even gotten to the game, meat, poultry, or processed food yet. This book is a game changer for me, and I really want to go on an excellent wine-pairing adventure now! Did I mention that there are colorful and high-definition images in this book? If you weren’t hungry before, these images will make your tummy rumble. After all of the aspects of the dish that can have an effect on the pairing, we finally get to learn about the actual wines and how they can be influenced. Learning about the different glasses for different wines was an eye-opener. I have quite a few different types of glasses and would enjoy doing a wine taste test with them to see how the glasses affect the wine.
 
This book is only 41 pages long, but it is bursting with information. I learned so much from this book, and even though it only took me two hours to work through it, I know I am going to come back to it a lot more often to review it. I am also eagerly waiting to read more from this talented author as a writer and a sommelier. I found only one small error while reading and nothing to dislike in the whole book. The author wrote in such an engaging manner that it felt like you were getting a personal lesson from him. This book is exceptionally well written, and I enjoyed every word and image in it.
 
I would give Germain Jean-Marie Lehodey’s Wine: The Second Sauce of a Dish a perfect 5 out of 5 stars. There is a lot to learn from this book regarding everything that goes into a dish and the wine you can pair it with. If this interests you, or even just food or wine overall, you would love this book.

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wine: the second sauce of a dish
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[Hazel Mae Bagarinao]

This is my first time to hear a sommelier. Oh my, the book is so informative. I have no idea about pairing wine with dishes, so this is mind-blowing for me as well. Thanks for your excellent review, Hubre! I have learned something today.

[Hubre De Klerk]

This is my first time to hear a sommelier. Oh my, the book is so informative. I have no idea about pairing wine with dishes, so this is mind-blowing for me as well. Thanks for your excellent review, Hubre! I have learned something today.

Thanks so much for your comment! I also learned a lot from this book and it was very informative and interesting.