Epicurious Web Wine Pairing Overlay

WHAT IT DOES

Epicurious Web Wine Pairing Overlay reads the recipe title and main ingredients from any Epicurious recipe page and displays intelligent wine pairing suggestions. The extension generates pairings based on the recipe's cuisine type (Italian, French, Mexican, Asian, American, Greek, Spanish) and key ingredients like beef, chicken, pork, fish, pasta, tomatoes, cream, mushrooms, cheese, and spicy elements. Each pairing includes the wine name, type (red, white, rosé, or sparkling), and a rationale explaining why the wine complements the dish. You can rate each pairing from 1 to 5 stars, and your ratings are saved per recipe. A "Shop" link opens a wine retailer (Wine.com) with the suggested wine pre-searched. The panel also displays the recipe title and detected cuisine.

WHERE IT RUNS

This extension works on all Epicurious pages at epicurious.com and its subdomains, specifically on recipe pages where ingredients are displayed. It runs on the main recipe view, the ingredient list section, and any page displaying recipe content. The extension operates entirely within your browser and does not access Epicurious' servers directly—it reads only what is visible on the page you are viewing. It works alongside the free BotGentz extension, which provides the necessary scripting environment.

HOW TO USE

Install the extension, then navigate to epicurious.com and open any recipe. The extension automatically scans the recipe title and ingredients and displays wine pairing suggestions in a panel. Click the extension's icon in your browser toolbar to open the panel. The panel shows the recipe title, detected cuisine, and a list of wine pairings with rationale. Rate each pairing by clicking the stars (1-5)—your ratings are saved for that recipe. Click the "Shop" button next to any wine to open a wine retailer with the wine name pre-searched. Use the "Show pairings" toggle to control whether pairings are displayed. The "Refresh Pairings" button manually rescans the recipe and regenerates suggestions.

CUISINE AND INGREDIENT DETECTION WITH PRIORITY-BASED PAIRING

Unlike simple keyword matching, this extension uses a two-stage detection and pairing system. First, it scans the recipe title and ingredient list to detect cuisine type using a prioritized keyword list, with the title given higher weight than ingredient text. Second, it generates pairings in priority order: cuisine-based pairings are added first (as they are more broadly applicable), followed by ingredient-based pairings. A uniqueness filter ensures no duplicate wine suggestions appear. The ingredient pairing database covers 16 common ingredients and cooking styles with specific wine recommendations and rationales. The cuisine database covers 7 major cuisines with multiple wine options per cuisine. The star rating system uses a per-recipe, per-wine key in GM storage, allowing users to track their preferences across sessions.

THE PANEL

The panel supports drag-to-move anywhere on the page. It remembers its position per site, so it stays where you placed it on epicurious.com. Click the panel header to collapse it down to just the minimized bubble, or click the expand handle to show the full panel. The panel can be resized by dragging the bottom-right corner. Press the Escape key to close the expanded panel and return to the minimized state. All panel settings, including position, size, collapsed state, pairings visibility, and wine ratings, are saved per site and persist across browsing sessions.

PLEASE NOTE

This extension requires the free BotGentz extension to be installed and active, as it provides the underlying DOM injection and script execution environment. Epicurious' website changes periodically, and recipe element structures, class names, and page layouts may be updated. When that happens, the extension may stop detecting recipes or ingredients until an update is released. The extension stores your pairings visibility preference and all wine ratings locally in your browser's storage using GM_setValue. Wine ratings are stored as a key-value object where keys are recipe-wine combinations and values are star ratings (1-5). No data is ever sent to any server, and no personal information is collected. The extension does not read or store your Epicurious login credentials, email, or any identifying information. You can clear all stored settings and ratings at any time by clearing your browser data for epicurious.com.