Blurb:

In a world of changing tastes and incessant innovation, the requirement that red meat be served with red wine is the sole rule of pairing food and wine that remains essentially unchallenged. The rule allows few exceptions, yet is entirely unknown to those not privy to the implicit beliefs of those for whom consumption of red wine is either a serious endeavor or taken for granted. Following the rule is not a question of connoisseurship, social class, or one-upmanship: A true marriage, sustained by both history and chemistry, an imperative with, paradoxically, no consequences for violation other than raised eyebrows and scorn.