Cooking with Wine

Cooking with wine is a great way to enhance and intensify the flavor of food. Wine can make an amazing difference in a wide variety of foods. An important rule to follow is use only wines in your cooking that you would drink. Never use any wine that you wouldn’t drink. If you do not like the taste of a wine, you will not like the food you just prepared with that wine. Next, do not use cooking wines. These wines are salty and often contain other additives that will change the taste of the final food dish. If you reduce the wine that you are cooking with, it will bring out the worst in an inferior wine. You can use too much wine with cooking and overpower a food dish. It does not take a great quantity of wine to add value to your food.

What kind of wine should you use when you cook?
You don’t have to spend a fortune when purchasing a decent wine for cooking. A bottle in the 10-12 dollars range would work. Save your premium wine (of like variety) to sever with your food. A white wine like Sauvignon Blanc would make a good choice for sautéing, marinating, and for sauces you would make for chicken and seafood. Red wines like Cabernet and Merlot are great for marinating red meats and for meat-based sauces. Be mindful of red wines with a lot of oak characteristics as they can tend to give off a bitter taste during cooking. Choose a Cabernet and Merlot that don’t have a lot of oak qualities.

Final Thoughts
The alcohol in the wine evaporates while the food is cooking, and only the flavor remains. The amount of alcohol that remains in your dish is dependent on the manner and length of preparation. Boiling down wine concentrates the flavor, including acidity and sweetness. The wine should simmer with the food, or sauce, to enhance the flavor of the dish. If you add wine late in the preparation, it could impart a harsh flavor.
Until next time, cheers!