People love to experiment in the kitchen, from unusual salty-sweet combinations to various kinds of alcohol put into the dish to spice up the taste. If you love drinking wine, you will surely enjoy the wine-based cooking style.
Meals that contain wine have been with people for many generations. There are thousands of recipes you can use to provide your family and friends with amazing food experience. Below we pointed out some essentials about cooking with wine you should have in mind before you start.
Use the wine you would normally drink
When it comes to choosing “the right” wine, people usually get confused and spend ages searching for the proper bottle. Why would you make it that hard for yourself? A simple rule of picking wine says you should use the one you normally drink.
If you’re just about to start your wine adventure, ask the specialist for recommendations – companies Acker Wines, or foodies and technique gurus like Lorna Kring could help with that. You don’t have to spend a fortune to prepare a sophisticated dinner. Average quality wine is more than enough to create great flavor.
Wine needs time
Even though wine-based meals aren’t complicated to prepare, you need to know that cooking will cost you a lot of time. Because wine contains alcohol, putting in at the end will bring mediocre results with row, bitter wine taste.
Imagine how it is to drink your vino with improper temperature; that’s more-less how your meal would taste like. You need to give the alcohol a chance to burn off. Simmering it for a couple of hours not only removes the intense odor but also lets wine create aromatic compositions with a delicate but noticeable taste.
Different wine = different dish
Indeed, you don’t need any special quality of wine to prepare a great meal, but it doesn’t mean you can match your food with any bottle you have. There are several rules for mixing alcohol with the dish.
It’s generally established that any kind of white meat, like poultry, veal or fish, goes well with white wine. Red meat matches with red wine; it contains beef, pork, venison, etc. Okay, but what if I make a meatless dish? The answer is semi-dry or semi-sweet vino color white. If you’re not sure which kind of your wine to add, you can always check for wine-based recipes and get some inspiration.
Control the amount of wine
An essential thing to have in mind is the quantity control. Pure glass wine tastes delicious, but an overwhelming amount in your dish can destroy the proper taste. Treat wine like seasoning. Putting less will result in a bland taste; putting too much would be hard to eat. Remember, you can always put some more wine, but you can’t go back if you add to much. Don’t be afraid of the leftovers, someone will surely finish the bottle with pleasure.
Wine leftovers are good for cooking
Speaking about the leftovers in your kitchen. If you keep your wine bottle well corked and refrigerated, you can easily use it to your meal. A previously opened wine can stay in very good condition for up to two weeks. It’s a great way to avoid wasting alcohol and create great food and wine composition.
Wine makes a great marinade
Many people usually put the wine straight to the pot when they start to cook. Another great way for a vino meal is to marinade the food for a bit before preparing it. Especially if you have really tender meat, adding some wine before the cooking will give some more flavors. Moreover, the acidity and tannins tenderize the fibers of the meat and create a great aroma.
The Big Cooking With Wine Question: How much of the alcohol stays in the meal?
Many people wonder if the dish that contains wine can be served to children. Or how big impact it would have on the adult after eating a few portions. As I mentioned before, cooking with alcohol needs time. The wine should be put to the dish at the beginning, so it has time to burn out with the temperature. Cooking time is essential here. If you, for example, braise a stew for a few hours, there will be a maximum of 5% of the alcohol left and the great aroma of the wine in the final taste. Slow-cooked meals are totally fine for kids. If you, on the other hand, decide to finish your dish with a vino sauce, adding wine around 20 minutes before serving the meal will contain up to 50% of the alcohol of the drink you put in.
The bottom line
Cooking with wine can perfectly highlight the taste of the dish and help you get rid of boredom in your kitchen. As long as you match specific recipes to the proper kind of wine, you can enjoy the culinary journey and surprise your guests with many great wine-based meal combinations.
