PEILiquor-LateWinter2018

HELPFUL TIPS: COOKINGWITHWINE

IT’S ALL IN THE TIMING.

Let’s crack open a bottle and discuss some guidelines for cooking with this amazing ingredient.

Wine enhances a dish when it is simmered for a while with other ingredients, so add it at the beginning of the cooking process wherever possible, when there is still plenty of cooking time left. Most recipes will say to “deglaze with wine”, which simply means adding wine to a pan to loosen and dissolve food particles (called fond) that are stuck to the bottom. The flavorful mixture produced by deglazing can then be used to make a sauce. If the wine is stirred in at the end of cooking and the dish is served immediately, it may taste harsh and its flavor will overpower everything else. You must allow the wine to evaporate and mellowwith cooking, or the dish will end up tasting like rawwine and not much else. As the raw alcohol evaporates, the liquid will thicken, creating a delicious and aromatic blend of flavours. The most important thing to remember is to enjoy yourself and have fun! If you love drinking wine, you will likely love cooking with it as well. Try cooking with wine using this recipe: PEI Mussels with Marinated Tomatoes and Fennel goo.gl/6z352w

WHY COOKWITHWINE?

Primarily, wine enhances the flavour and aroma of dishes. Wine can also act as a tenderizer in long braises, add moisture, or add an acidic element to balance out super-rich flavours. Heating evaporates the moisture, concentrating the flavour of the wine, which is why it’s important to match the right one to your dish. This brings us to our first tip:

IF YOUWOULDN’T DRINK IT, DON’T COOKWITH IT.

Cooking concentrates the flavours of a wine, so if you don’t like it straight out of the bottle, you likely won’t enjoy it flavouring your meal, either. Of course you don’t need to spend a fortune on a bottle of red wine to add to a pot roast, but neither should you buy the cheapest bottle possible. The same principles apply to grape varieties as well, so if you hate Merlot, you might want to use Pinot Noir instead.

SAVE THE REALLY GOOD STUFF FOR DRINKING!

Expensive or really special wine can, of course, be used for cooking and produce some very tasty dishes. It’s likely, though, that the other flavours in your dish may overpower that wine you love. An expensive, rare or special wine is worth enjoying on its own, where you can experience all the lovely aromas and flavours - in a glass.

WHICH KINDS OFWINES TO USE?

When deciding what kind of wine to cook with, many chefs will agree that your best bet is to cook with a wine that you would drink with the dish you are preparing. Every wine has its own flavour and aroma profile so be sure to use this to your advantage! Before adding wine to any dish, think about the flavour characteristics of the wine and if it might go well with the dish you are preparing. For example, a nice red wine sauce with a steak would likely benefit from some bold Cabernet Sauvignon. A bright savory dish that contains lemon or lime would be augmented by a Sauvignon Blanc. Try also stay away from inexpensive cooking wines, which have high salt content, and are often quite vinegar-y. When a recipe simply lists “red” or “white” wine, you can use a medium-dry to dry wine.

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