How to use Alexa to get food, wine and beer pairings so you can pretend you’re a connoisseur
Thanks Alexa!
Millions of AI personal assistants have been sold in recent years with one of the most popular being Alexa, used in the Amazon Echo and the Amazon Echo Dot smart speakers.
They’ve been quietly populating homes around the world like the sinister start to some Black Mirror episode.
But if you’re not a total technophobe then Alexa has some pretty cool features for you; also known as ‘skills’.
Just like apps, Amazon allows developers to build and publish these skills to increase the range of things your Alexa can help you out with.
And the latest batch of nifty tricks on offer are skills to help you get food, wine and beer pairings so you can blag your way through any dinner party like a true expert foodie.
Brewers Table is a free-to-enable skill that helps you find appropriate matches between your dishes, cheeses and desserts and your favourite beer.
Find some sweet, sweet ales with Alexa’s help
Meanwhile, another free skill helps you match your meals with some lovely fine wines.
“You can ask wine pairing to recommend wines to go with a large variety of dishes,” the Wine Pairing skill description says.
“Simply tell Alexa to ask wine pairing for the best wine for steak or whatever you’re planning to eat. You’ll find out which types of wines work best and get one specific recommendation for a highly rated wine. You can also ask for meal recommendations for a wine you plan on drinking, or simply ask for a good wine.”
Other handy food-and-drink-based Alexa skills include:
- Ingredient Sub: A simple tool to help with common ingredient substitutions while cooking
- Meal Idea: Use Meal Idea to hear meal ideas that use basic, everyday ingredients that you already have in your cupboard or fridge
- OurGroceries: This skill lets you add items to the shopping lists on your OurGroceries app. The app keeps your grocery lists instantly synchronized on all the iPhone and Android smartphones in your household. It also tracks recipes, takes photos of items, and scans barcodes
- Kitchen Measures: Helps you quickly find equivalent measures commonly used in cooking
Good luck and good eating!
(Images: Getty)
