A blog about alcohol-free
menu pairings.

As an amateur chef and athlete, I often ask myself the question: "What to drink if you don't want to drink?" For many people it's understandable and for some it's easy to answer. Hey, just don't drink! It gets complicated when a personal preference is added to boozing, put more simply: problematic drinking habits. As an athlete, I had long come to terms perfectly with the very simple concept of “training or tannins” (aka body or binge). There were always very intense sports phases in my life. During which it was easy for me to drink little or nothing. One reason was certainly that I then cooked less. There's some protein shake, baby!

But when it came to the pots and pans, I found it much harder to separate, until at some point it was unthinkable. Some wine while cooking ? Always a pleasure, that's what you do. As a teenager I used to watch a lot of cooking shows on TV. There was casual cooking and eloquent conversation, accompanied by a good wine, always within reach. That was the zeitgeist, and for me the big wide world. Plus, alcohol had always been present in my family, so for me there was no reason to question anything. So besides photography, I also became interested in cooking at an early age. My parents, of course, liked the fact that I cooked for them. I also cooked for guests and was sometimes allowed to sip wine. Almost like in TV, I thought. In my early twenties, I moved away from home. I cooked for my girlfriend at the time, family and friends. A quick pasta? Yes, but rather something more elaborate, so that there would still be enough time for the accompanying wine. We stood in the kitchen, cooked, drank and talked.

In my early twenties, I moved away from home. I cooked for my girlfriend at the time, family and friends. A quick pasta? Yes, but rather something more elaborate, so that there would still be enough time for the accompanying wine. We stood in the kitchen, cooked, drank and talked.

Then, in my mid-thirties, the Saturday scenario. Guests arrive, the cooking becomes even more elaborate, the cups are raised. The choice of drinks is an integral part of the "event". Visit the wine dealer you trust. Enjoying the intensive advice, tasting, sliding out of the shop heavily laden and elated. The best booz in your bag. In the evening, cook casually, chat eloquently (well), and reap plenty of recognition. First applause, then blackout! Not always, but more and more often. In my mid-forties, the time had come for me to rethink. Alcohol had infiltrated cooking and other areas of my life. How could I now devote myself to the subject of food without having to open a cooking wine first? I like to deal with food. I didn't become a food photographer because alcohol was flowing in the kitchen, but because cooking interested me just as much as photography since I was young. Fun fact, two professions don't exactly have abstinence in their job description. But that's another topic.

A blog about alcohol-free

menu pairings.