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Cooking with Wine

Written By: Alexandra Perez-Urbina on Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Tips and advice on integrating wine into your everyday cooking.

Wine: What are the rules for cooking with it? Well, for one thing, never use the stuff labeled as "cooking wine." That stuff's crap--it's cheap wine, it's salty, and it's expensive. When you cook with wine, you concentrate the wine's flavors, so why would you want to concentrate "cooking wine?"

The rules for cooking wine are that it should be something that is inexpensive and that you would drink. A lot of the restaurants I work for use the Carlo Rossi brand, and in turn, I also use them. I'd also like to get into using box wines, as I don't cook at home every day. Box wine actually makes great cooking wine because the containers are airtight and the wine keeps fresher longer!

What type of wine should you use? Well, that depends on you and your personal tastes. I have worked with chefs that will only use Rieslings, others Chardonnay, some Sauvignon Blanc, and as far as reds go, Pinot Noir and Merlot have been at the top of the list, but you want to consider the qualities of the wine for the meal you are making, or for your cooking style. Match the wine's qualities to your ingredients list.

For example, if you are making a beurre blanc, use a buttery Chardonnay. Also consider the region of the meal and match it with the wine. I like to put a splash of Chianti in my basic tomato sauce. You can be creative in many ways, so as I said originally, the kind of wine you use depends on you.

With fortified wines, wines with extra alcohol and longer aging, you also want to consider its qualities. Port can be sweet, and is often used for desserts, such as a poaching liquid for pears. Sherry can be sweet or dry and because of that, its use varies; however, you want to be careful with which one you use (sweet or dry). I have found that Vermouth is an acquired taste (my husband hates it). It is a complex and herbaceous spirit--sweet Vermouth, especially--and must be used wisely.

For a different, and fun, cooking experience, you might want to consider "tweaking" your wine a little. I worked for a place that infused their cooking wine with a whole shallot and garlic. They would sauté the shallot and cloves of garlic, remove the pan from the heat (and fire), and deglaze the pan with wine. First they would add a little to remove the delicious, caramelized bits of shallot and garlic from the pan, and then add half a gallon of wine. They would pour this wine into a container, and pour away when customers made their orders.

Wine can be enjoyed in many different ways--whether in a cup or in a sauce pan, it's fun to experiment and be creative. Just make sure you concentrate the flavors you like, and there will be a party waiting for you in your mouth!

Buen provecho!

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bgmcws
Chester, PA
Posted on 5/29/08

welcome to the site alex! I've always used wine that is considered "cooking wine" simply because I figured something about it made it better for cooking. Looks like I was way off! I'll spring for higher quality wines from now on.


aperez
Philadelphia, PA
Posted on 5/28/08

Please forgive me as I try to figure out how to submit responses! Haha!

JS12- Qualities that you want to avoid with dry, white wines are:
1. Sharp, acidic flavors
2. Woody flavorsFor salmon risotto, I'd go with an herby, dry Sauvignon Blanc (it should create enough contrast for a flavorful fish, like salmon).

Chardonnay, a base for many sauces accompanying fish, should also work well with both risotto and salmon. Dry Vermouth is also another option, though I will be honest that I haven't really had a chance to play with dry Vermouth much.

Also, if there's a wine you'd like to pair with this dish, you might want to consider using an inexpensive wine of the same variety.There we go!

Happy Cooking!

Alex


JS12
Philadelphia, PA
Posted on 5/28/08

Alex - I was making a Salmon Risotto the other week and the recipe called for a "Dry White Wine" and that was it. Can you recommend something that would complement the flavors more specifically for when I make it next time? The dish includes risotto, cubed salmon, cucumber, onion and some miscellaneous spices.thanks!

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