Why do you cook with wine?

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I'm a beer drinker, not a big wine lover, especially not red wine. Lots of times, when a recipe calls for wine, I use chicken or beef broth. I also cook several dishes with beer.
On the other hand, there are certain dishes that are so special, just because of the wine...Chicken Marsala is one of those.l
 
2 Bar said:
Why do you cook with wine? What does it do to the food? What does it add to the taste?

In one word - flavor. Wine adds it's own unique flavor to a dish, and the alcohol releases alcohol soluble flavors from foods (tomatoes, vanilla beans, and herbs are good examples) that you will never taste without it. Red wine and red grape juice taste nothing alike. Wine is also used as a marinade to tenderize meats, and to help in the infusion of fat soluble flavors during the marinading process.

2 Bar said:
Is all the alcohol removed through the heat?

No! But, depending on the time and method - it is somewhere between somewhat to significantly reduced ... but never totally eliminated. GB recently (this morning) posted this link to a site with a good chart showing what % of the alcohol is left after cooking - in a discussion on alternatives to wine in cooking, on another thread here.
 
Why do I cook with wine?

So I can keep all of my beer for drinking! :ROFLMAO:

<ba-dum-bump!>

Thank You! Thank You! I'll be here all week!

John
 
I've cooked with white wine when I've cooked seafood dishes like Cioppino since the recipe requires it. But I find the taste of wine still in the dish even when its been cooking for 30mins.

I never got the reason to use wine as an ingredient. If your trying to give your dish an X-factor, do what restaurants do, add loads of butter at the end.
 
I'm new to cooking and am learning by borrowing recipes from online and trying to make them. I recently made a chickedn dish that called for white wine and sherry. It came out great. but left me with the question:

Why do you cook with wine? What does it do to the food? What does it add to the taste? Is all the alcohol removed through the heat? If I understood how it works in recipes, maybe I could start throwing it in a few more dishes or know what to keep in the house.

Thanks.
Make the recipe with the wine, etc., and taste it. Then the next time make it without the wine. Then you will know why you use wine.

I always understood that long slow cooking or fast boiling or flaming the alcohol if you are using spirits (depending on the recipe) would drive off the alcohol content. However, I have recently read that traces remain.

Don't just go around "throwing it in a few more dishes". Indiscriminate use of alcohol can ruin the dish every bit as much as careful use can make the dish.

You don't need to use a very expensive wine for cooking but if it isn't fit to drink, it isn't fit to cook with. And stale wine tastes stale in a stew so if you aren't going to use the left overs straight away freeze it in ice cube trays for cooking in the near future.
 
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I've cooked with white wine when I've cooked seafood dishes like Cioppino since the recipe requires it. But I find the taste of wine still in the dish even when its been cooking for 30mins.

I never got the reason to use wine as an ingredient. If your trying to give your dish an X-factor, do what restaurants do, add loads of butter at the end.

Did you read the previous 23 responses?

If you don't like the taste, feel free not to use it but there are very good reasons why it's used.
 
Did you read the previous 23 responses?

If you don't like the taste, feel free not to use it but there are very good reasons why it's used.

I was giving a suggestion of using butter instead of wine. Its a lot less on the pocket. I'd rather drink wine than use it in foods. But thats just me.
 
I was giving a suggestion of using butter instead of wine. Its a lot less on the pocket. I'd rather drink wine than use it in foods. But thats just me.

There are some food flavors that dissolve in alcohol, so using wine or spirits can make your food more flavorful. You don't need a lot, and you don't need an expensive wine, but it does make a difference.
 
I was giving a suggestion of using butter instead of wine. Its a lot less on the pocket. I'd rather drink wine than use it in foods. But thats just me.

With all due respect it wasn't an answer to the original question.

And the many answers to the original question should clarify your lack of understanding about the use of wine in cooking.
 
You don't have to purchase an expensive wine. Just make sure it is one you would drink yourself. Red wine when paired with a tomato sauce can make the difference between an okay dish and a great one. Ask any Italian grandmother.

If cost is a factor for you, then buy a decent wine in the box. You won't be sorry. Expand your cooking horizons. :angel:
 
You don't have to purchase an expensive wine. Just make sure it is one you would drink yourself. Red wine when paired with a tomato sauce can make the difference between an okay dish and a great one. Ask any Italian grandmother.

If cost is a factor for you, then buy a decent wine in the box. You won't be sorry. Expand your cooking horizons. :angel:

This sounds really funny coming from you, since you've said repeatedly that you have never tasted any form of alcohol, much less cooked with it :LOL:
 
Red wine adds a depth of flavor and hardiness to make a tomato sauce taste much better. White wine adds great acidity and brightness to a dish, taking it over the top. Of course this is just my opinion.
 
This sounds really funny coming from you, since you've said repeatedly that you have never tasted any form of alcohol, much less cooked with it :LOL:

I understand what you are saying, and you are right. But having grown up in an Italian neighborhood, I have tasted many a pasta sauce made with the vino that the men made in the basement. And it was always a long cooked 'gravy' for Sunday dinner. What the wife didn't use in her gravy, the men sat around the kitchen table finishing off the gallon jug waiting for dinner. By that time they were all drunk. As long as I can't taste the alcohol, I am fine with eating foods that have alcohol in them. They do make a difference.

And no, I do not cook with alcohol or allow it in my home. :angel:
 
I've cooked with white wine when I've cooked seafood dishes like Cioppino since the recipe requires it. But I find the taste of wine still in the dish even when its been cooking for 30mins.
I never got the reason to use wine as an ingredient. If your trying to give your dish an X-factor, do what restaurants do, add loads of butter at the end.

How about using butter and wine? Restaurants use both.

Red wine adds a depth of flavor and hardiness to make a tomato sauce taste much better. White wine adds great acidity and brightness to a dish, taking it over the top. Of course this is just my opinion.

My exact sentiments. Its almost as if I was you for a minute! :LOL:

What the wife didn't use in her gravy, the men sat around the kitchen table finishing off the gallon jug waiting for dinner. By that time they were all drunk.

Sounds like my family at Sunday dinner! Great memories for sure. ;)
 
I don't cook with wine a lot, but there are certain dishes that it just seems to work well with. I wouldn't dream of making beef stew or most any red pasta sauce without red wine. I often use a splash or two of white wine in cream based dishes, too. It really makes certain foods taste decadent.
 
Why throw perfectly good wine into the food when I can throw it directly into myself instead? But, seriously I cook very seldom with wine added into a recipe. I also enjoy wine BEFORE a meal rather than with a meal. With a meal I normally choose ice water. Veal, with a nice sauce fortified with wine is excellent; Ukrainian beet stew with red wine is good.
 
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You haven't lived until you try classic Beef Bourguignon or Coq au Vin.:yum: Osso Buco has to have white wine.
 
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