Tonia Wilson‘s Beer At My Table ($34.95, Whitecap Books) is a perfect cookbook as far as I am concerned.

While I don’t drink, I do love information and Wilson, a chef and beer sommelier, shares so much of her knowledge about beer, food and pairing both.

The beginning of the book offers a look at beer and food, including understanding “how aroma, flavour and texture affects the interactions of beer and food” and then puts the information together in order for the reader to understand the steps to create a perfect pairing.

The recipes are then broken down into spring, summer, fall and winter with each recipe introduced by the beer it is paired with. While beer will never touch my lips, I found myself reading about each beer including how and when to drink it as well as information about where it comes from and how it gets its taste.

Wilson includes one type of beer she would pair with the recipe and explains why and then lists three other beers that would also go well with the dish. There is a lot of Canadian recommendations, which makes me happy and two Canadian breweries are featured: Left Field Brewery and Henderson Brewery.

There is a picture of the beer and the next page reveals the recipe along with the photo of the dish. The recipes themselves sound, and look, delicious and each look fairly easy to make with ingredients that are easily sourced.

I was intrigued about the Trappist Ale, created by monks of the Cistercian Order, and there are a number of recipes I would be interested in trying including Artichoke, Pea and Lemon Carbonara, Tartine of Smoked Trout with Herbed Cheese and Radishes and Beef, Shiitake and Bok Choy Buckwheat Noodles. There is also information about gluten-free beer (which has apparently gotten better in taste) along with a gluten-free recipe.

Beer lovers, food lovers and information lovers rejoice – this cookbook is for everyone.

A copy of this book was provided by Whitecap Books Ltd. For an honest review. The opinions are my own.