Malcolm Jolley talks to Tonia Wilson about her new book Beer At My Table.

I recently met with Tonia Wilson and she really did have a beer at my table. Or really, my kitchen counter, but Beer At My Table: Recipes, Beer Styles and Food Pairings is the name of her new book and I couldn’t resist. When I heard that Beer At My Table was coming out, I asked to see a copy right away since Wilson is about the most qualified epicure I know:

  1. She’s a trained chef who has represented Canada as Head Chef at both our embassy in Rome and our diplomatic mission to the European Union in Brussels;
  2. She’s a trained sommelier, accredited by L’Associazone Sommelier d’Italia, no less;
  3. She’s a profession food and drink writer for the LCBO’s award winning magazine Food & Drink; and
  4. She’s an accomplished food product developer who currently makes and markets her own line of artisanal mustard made with beer called Brü.

And now she’s a published author having conceived of and written this very informative, beautiful and fun book. Beer At My Table works as a reference on classic styles of beer, a how to on how to taste beer and pair those styles to complimentary foods, and a collection of seasonal recipes, each corresponding to a style of beer. I love the idea of picking up an interesting looking beer, coming home and looking up a suitable recipe to pair it with. Or, looking up which style of beer might work best with a kind of dish. I asked Tonia Wilson about what inspired her to write Beer At My Table and what she hopes readers will get from it in the video interview below.

Note: embedded videos will not appear in email versions of this post. Please click here to see the video at GFR.

Beer At My Table is available in real life where good food books are sold and online at Indigo and Amazon.