A complete guide to planning and hosting tasting parties, this book will appeal to everyone who is too busy to throw a dinner party but who loves to entertain, and foodie sophisticates searching for that best olive oil, wine, cheese, or other food and beverage. Tasting combines the growing trend for food appreciation with the popular book-group phenomenon. Introduces the 4 W’s of tasting: what, where, when and why, for developing a sensitive and sophisticated palate. Offers 10 different tastings, each focusing on a different food or drink, such as cheese, extra virgin olive oil and chocolate. Each gives practical advice for savoring food in a structured way to understand your palate. A full guide for hosting easy-to-organize tasting sessions with friends, with ‘cheat sheets’ and taste cards. Tastings are suitable for large events, one-on-one romantic occasions or independent tasting.

Dina Cheney, a graduate of Columbia College, Columbia University and the Institute of Culinary Education, is a freelance writer, tasting host, and former cooking teacher. The author of Tasting Club (DK Publishing), Dina writes for a number of local and national publications. Previously, she taught hundreds of students to cook through her business, Cooking by Heart. In this capacity, Dina was featured on Fox 5 News, as well as in The New York Times, the New York Daily News, and more.