KATINKA VAN NIEKERK

• co-author of The Food and Wine Pairing Guide with Brian Burke, a passionate foodie
• former lecturer of the Cape Wine Academy
• developed and presented food and wine matching courses both locally and abroad during the last decade
• consultant to chefs and winemakers
• a visiting lecturer at hotel schools and catering colleges

Extract from the second printing of The Food and Wine Pairing Guide:

Katinka van Niekerk has developed food and wine matching courses
which she presents both locally and abroad. A career in the wine industry
was followed by a stint as a lecturer for the Cape Wine Academy
and she is currently a consultant to chefs and winemakers as well as
a visiting lecturer at many hotel schools and catering colleges.

Katinka’s interest in food and wine pairing began when she was
the young wife of a New York-based diplomat. At the time, formal dinners
often ended with chocolate mousse, the fashionable dessert of
the day, accompanied by champagne. She found this combination
jarring, as the sweetness of the dessert ruined every subtle nuance
of the champagne. When she wanted to challenge the food and wine
practices of the time, she was gently told to follow convention and
that she would soon ‘get used to how things should be done.’ But
she didn’t, and her taste buds remained unconvinced!

Ultimately, this experience turned into a passion for discovering
what works and what does not work when it comes to pairing food
and wine. Building on the opportunities that came from living in the
USA, Germany, Israel, the UK and South Africa, Katinka has, over the
years, refined and developed this passion, constantly tasting, testing
and investigating, all the while compiling an extensive database of
notes and a prodigious ‘tasting memory’ of flavours and sensations.

Brian Burke is a passionate foodie with a specific interest in food
and wine pairing. During his years in the corporate arena, he hosted
numerous business lunches and dinners and keenly felt the lack
of a guide to assist him, at a glance, to select wines to accompany
those meals. The problem was not a lack of wines to choose from,
but rather, which wine would best enhance the food without losing
its own character. Being a marketer with a passion for identifying
customer needs, Brian realized that many diners could find themselves
with the same dilemma. Meeting Katinka was a ‘light bulb
moment’. At the time, she was offering courses for people in the
hospitality industry who needed to learn the principles of matching
food and wine and how to choose the right wines for a meal.
She had the practical knowledge, he had the research and marketing
skills and it wasn’t long before they realized that there was a way
they could share their expertise with all wine and food lovers wanting
to discover the secrets of pairing wine and food. Voilà!, the concept
for The Food and Wine Pairing Guide was born.