When tofu's on the table, go white.

Byline: FOOD DUDE By Lewis Taylor The Register-Guard

Welcome to Food Dude, a new feature in The Register-Guard for people who like to eat food.

Food Dude isn't like those elitist columns that make restaurants and kitchens sound like artist studios. You won't hear us using fancy food words such as "restaurateur" and "amuse bouche," and we'll never make you feel like a failure for not having a cone-shaped sieve or a $15,000 Viking range in your kitchen.

This is a column for people who don't have all the answers. A place to ask simple questions about stuff you put in your mouth. Ideally, the questions will come from readers, but for now we've asked friends and coworkers to give us their food puzzlers.

We hope you'll write to us. You won't win anything for participating, but you will have the satisfaction of knowing you helped make the world a tastier place.

Send your questions to us at [e-mail]. Or, do it the old-fashioned way at: Food Dude, The Register-Guard, P.O. Box 10188, Eugene, OR 97440-2168.

Dear Food Dude: What kind of wine should I drink with tofu?

- Vegetarian for Life

Dear Vegetarian: Food Dude used to make fun of tofu-eating, flavor-haters like you, but I've since come around. That's because I've realized that bean curd doesn't have to taste like, well, bean curd. Tofu soaks up seasoning like a sponge, and, depending on how it's prepared, it can actually be quite tasty.

This makes your question more complicated than it seems, and before I can answer, the wine experts say, I need to ask a few other questions, such as:

Is the tofu baked or fried?

Is it sweet or spicy?

Is it served Asian style or hippie, drowning-in-garlic-style.

"It's like saying what kind of wine do you have with pasta?" says Brook Fuller, the wine guy at Marche.

"There are a thousand ways to prepare it."

Tofu, Fuller says, is really a textural experience that varies depending on how it's flavored.

With Asian-style tofu, Fuller recommends a classic pairing of a Gewurztraminer or a riesling. These wines tend to be a bit sweeter and go well with this style of tofu.

You can also match tofu with reds, even though Fuller calls it an "odd pairing."

"(My advice) would be to avoid a wine that is tannic," he says. "You want wines with big fruit notes and a high acid profile. French Grenache, a Cotes du Rhone wine."

White wine, he says, would still probably be a better pairing.

Dear Food Dude: My husband swears by those grocery-store spices in bulk bins, but I wonder whether the sealed spices in jars might be fresher.

- Spice Girl

Dear Spice Girl: The short answer is that you're probably better off buying in bulk.

And wouldn't you rather buy the quantity you need instead of a predetermined amount from some giant spice factory in Maryland?

Not only are those tiny tins and jars you find next to the chocolate chips and baking soda "a total rip-off," according to Mark Stern, head chef at Eugene's Dish Comfort Food, but they're also more likely to have been sitting on the shelf since the Earth cooled. The packaging on these prehistoric spices can be misleading and the cryptic expiration dates can be impossible to decipher, Stern says.

With a little experience, you can make your own judgment on whether a particular herb or spice is up to snuff. Stern recommends crushing a small amount between your fingers. If you can't smell what you're supposed to smell, it probably isn't worthy of your kitchen.

Crushing dried herbs and spices releases some of the volatile oils, and Stern says it's a good thing to do before adding ingredients to the pot.

Of course, most chefs recommend using fresh herbs instead of dried, but it isn't always feasible to buy a $4 bunch of herbs for a recipe that calls for a teaspoon.

If you're going to skimp, Stern says, just don't do it with basil, which is always worth buying fresh.

Send questions via e-mail to fooddude @guardnet.com. Or, send mail to Food Dude, The Register-Guard, P.O. Box 10188, Eugene, OR 97440-2168.