Sherry vs. white wine

[ellakav]

what is the difference between the two and can I use sherry in place
of the wine in my marinara sauce? it's only a 1/2 cup...

 

[Andy M.]

Sherry has a distinctive taste you may not enjoy in your sauce. Taste it and decide for yourself. Dry white vermouth will work nicely.

 

[GrillingFool]

Speaking of Sherry....
Recipes generally call for sherry..
what kind?
Dry? cream?

(i actually like cream sherry).

 

[Andy M.]

Cream sherry is a sweet tasty drink for sipping. In recipes, I'd stick with dry sherry. Dry sherry is a good sub for Chinese rice wine in Chinese food recipes.

 

[ellakav]

welllll...I can't taste it, that's the thing. I have been in AA
for over 4 years and so you get the picture?

 

[Michael in FtW]

Well - if you ever had a glass of dry white wine and remember what it tasted like ... imagine that with a teaspoon of sugar added to it. Sherry is sweeter than straight wine - it also has fruit, nut and floral notes that wine doesn't. And, sherry has a higher alcohol content than wine.

You might look for something called Verjus - it is unfermented white grape "wine". It is a good wine substitute for those who are sensative to alcohol but want some wine flavor.

Another option would be non-alcoholic or de-alcoholized wine. They take wine and remove as much alcohol as they can - it's really only good for cooking. But, it still has a trace of alcohol - about 0.5% (one half of 1 percent).

Maybe this will help with alcohol content:

Verjus - 0%
Non-alcoholic/de-alcoholized wine - <= 0.5%
Wine - 12%
Sherry - 18%-24%

 

[ellakav]

yeah, I remember the taste. some of the rotgut we drank back in
high school too was basically wine with a whole lot of sugar--remember
Boone's Farm??

I don't mind cooking with alcohol because it evaporates, so it doesn't
violate my sobriety any--wow, did that sound sanctimonious?? I am
so not trying to! but I'm one of the lucky ones in recovery. I can
cook with it or even bring a beer to the old ball and chain and I don't
feel tempted. I was asking because at the moment sherry is all I have
on hand and my car is in the shop so I am kind of stranded.

 

[GB]

ellakav, it is a common misconception that the alcohol cooks out. Here is a link that will give you more info.

Sherry tastes nothing like Boone's Farm. I think the closest it tastes is Marsalla wine. have you ever had veal or chicken Marsalla?

 

[ellakav]

is it? guess I should bring that up at my next meeting.
I was only joking about the Boone's Farm thing, too.
but since you just told me that the alcohol does not cook
out, this voids my original question. I will be using neither.
thanks everyone!

 

[GB]

Glad to help and good job staying sober!!!

 

[Michael in FtW]

Something the chart GB pointed you to failed to mention - this is what is left if cooked "uncovered". If simmered covered - the alcohol condenses on the lid and runs back down into the pot.

For some reason - you can't reduce the alcohol content below about 0.5% - even if distilling wine to remove it. Same thing with non-alcoholic beer.

And like GB said - congrats on 4 years!