| By :
Mark Etinger
A lot of people don't know the first thing about buying wine, let alone cooking with wine. We go into the liquor store and choose whatever is on sale or we grab any name that sounds even remotely familiar. You don't have to be a wine expert though to cook with wine. With just a few helpful tips, you can enhance the flavors of your foods and make delicious meals. The most important rule to remember is to never cook with a wine you wouldn't drink. If you don't enjoy the taste when you drink it, you're certainly not going to like the taste of it in your food! The next tip might come as a bit of a shock - don't use labeled cooking wines. These are very poor tasting wines usually loaded with salt and other additives. When you cook with it, the heat will reduce it down to these awful flavors. Remember, if you wouldn't drink it, don't cook with it! Stick with traditional red wines and white wines. When you're in the store, do not feel that you must buy an extremely expensive bottle of wine. Save those bottles for drinking. On the other hand, don't settle for a cheap $5 bottle. A cheap bottle will taste cheap and your meal will taste even cheaper. Find a happy medium. Think of wine as a spice. Whether you use it as a marinade, a cooking liquid, or as added flavor, the wine should intensify and enhance both the taste and aroma of the food. If you use too little, it won't have any effect at all. Too much white or red wine and the flavors will be too much too handle. When cooked, the alcohol will burn off and you will be left with either the acidity or sweetness of the wine. This is why either extreme can ruin your food. Do not add the wine before you intend to serve it. The wine needs to simmer with the food and other ingredients for the true flavors to be brought out, otherwise it can create a harsh taste. The ultimate question everyone wants to know is red wine or white wine? Knowing which wine to use in cooking is very similar to choosing wine to pair with food. Red wines bring bold flavors with them and should therefore be used for bolder, richer foods. Always use red wine when cooking tomato-based sauces and red meats. Earthy red wines will taste best in soups with root vegetables and beef stock Dry white wines will give food acidity and should be used for cream sauces, poultry, and seafood..A crisp, dry white wine will taste good in seafood soups and sweet white wines will work best with desserts. Another method of pairing can be to use regional wines for regional cooking. Cooking a traditional northern Italian meal? Find a wine from that region. With the right bottle of wine, you can turn any meal into something truly delectable. Not all meals need wine though so don't add it to everything. If you can't cook with it, you can at least drink it!
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