-->
When wine is heated, the alcoholic content as well as sulfites disappears, leaving only the essence imparting a subtle flavor.
Wine Selection:
How
To Cook With Wine:
Sulfites in Wine:
Traditional formula for pairing wine with cooking:
Actual Consumption of Alcohol:
When wine is heated, the alcoholic content as well as sulfites disappears, leaving only the essence imparting a subtle flavor.
Wine Selection:
The first and most important rule: Use only wines in your cooking that
you would drink. Never, never use any wine that you
WOULD NOT DRINK! If your do not like the taste of a wine, you
will not like the dish you choose to use it in.
Do not use the
so-called "cooking wines!" These wine are typically salty
and include other additives that my affect the taste of your chosen dish
and menu. The process of cooking/reducing will bring out the
worst in an inferior wine. Please promise yourself never, never
to stoop to such a product! Linda's rule of thumb is: I do not
cook with something I will not drink.
An expensive wine is not
necessary, although a cheap wine will not bring out the best
characteristics of your dish. A good quality wine, that you enjoy, will
provide the same flavor to a dish as a premium wine. Save the premium
wine to serve with the meal.
How
To Cook With Wine:
Wine has three main uses in the kitchen -
as a marinade ingredient, as a cooking liquid, and as a flavoring in a
finished dish.
The function of wine in cooking is to intensify, enhance,
and accent the flavor and aroma of food - not to mask the flavor of what
you are cooking but rather to fortify it.
As with any seasoning used in
cooking, care should be taken in the amount of wine used - too little is
inconsequential and too much will be overpowering. Neither extreme is
desirable. A small quantity of wine will enhance the flavor of the dish.
The alcohol in the wine evaporates while
the food is cooking, and only the flavor remains. Boiling down wine
concentrates the flavor, including acidity and sweetness. Be careful not
to use too much wine as the flavor could overpower your dish.
For best results, wine
should not be added to a dish just before serving. The wine should
simmer with the food, or sauce, to enhance the flavor of the dish. If
added late in the preparation, it could impart a harsh quality. It should simmer with the food or in the
sauce while it is being cooked; as the wine cooks, it reduces and
becomes an extract which flavors. Wine added too late in the preparation
will give a harsh quality to the dish. A wine needs
time to impart its flavor in your dish. Wait 10 minutes or more to taste
before adding more wine.
Remember that wine does not belong in
every dish. More than one wine-based sauce in a single meal can be
monotonous. Use wine is cooking only when it has something to contribute
to the finished dish.
Sulfites in Wine:
All wines contain some small amount of sulfites, as they are a
natural result of the same fermentation process that turns grape juice
into alcohol. Even wines that have not had any sulfites added during the
winemaking process contain some amount of sulfites. Sulfur dioxide (SO2)
is used by winemakers to keep freshly pressed "must" from spoiling. It
keeps down the activities of native yeast and bacteria and preserves the
freshness of the wine.
When cooking with wine containing
sulfites, you do not concentrate them as you would flavor, but rather
they evaporate like alcohol. The sulfite goes through a conversion in
the liquid of the wine to produce sulfur dioxide. This is actually the
compound that prevents the oxidation. It also is a gas, and when
subjected to heat, it dissipates into the air. All that remains is some
salts, but they are so minute in quantity that they have no affect on
flavor.
Storage of Leftover
Wine
Leftover wine can be refrigerated
and used for cooking if held for only 1 or 2 weeks. If you have at
least a half bottle on wine left over, pour it off into a clean half
bottle, cork it, and store in the refrigerator. Without air space at the
top, the rebottled wine will keep for up to 1 month.
Wine Reduction for Pan
Sauces:
1/2 to 3/4 cup raw wine = 2 tablespoons of
wine reduction
For ultimate flavor, wine should be
reduced slowly over low heat. This method takes more time and effort,
but will achieve a superior sauce because the flavor compounds present
in the wine are better preserved.
Traditional formula for pairing wine with cooking:
Young, full bodied red
wine
|
Red meat, red meat
dishes
|
Young, full bodied,
robust red wine
|
Red sauces
|
Earthy red, full bodied
red wine
|
Soups with root
vegetables and/or beef
stock
|
Dry white wine or dry
fortified wine
|
Fish/shellfish/seafood,
poultry, pork, veal
|
Dry white wine or dry
fortified wine
|
Light/cream sauces
|
Crisp, dry white wine
|
Seafood soups,
bouillabaisse
|
Sweet white wine or
sweet fortified wine
|
Sweet desserts
|
Dry, fortified wine
(i.e.: sherry)
|
Consommé, poultry,
vegetable soups
|
Regional cuisine
|
Regional wine
|
Actual Consumption of Alcohol:
The amount of alcohol that
remains in your dish is
dependent on the manner and
length of preparation.
Typically, the alcohol in the
wine evaporates while cooking
and only the flavor remains. The
following table of alcohol
remaining after food preparation
is from the Agricultural
Research Services of the USDA
(1989):
100%
|
Immediate Consumption
|
70%
|
Overnight Storage
|
85%
|
Boiling liquid, remove
from heat
|
75%
|
Flamed
|
Dishes that have been baked or simmered: |
|
40%
|
After 15 minutes
|
35%
|
After 30 minutes
|
25%
|
After 1 hour
|
20%
|
After 1.5 hours
|
10%
|
After 2 hours
|
5%
|
After 2.5 hours
|
