Sunday, January 24, 2010

Cooking With Beer, Wine & Liqueurs

By Darren Fletcher

Alcohol is an important ingredient in many different recipes - it is used in a variety of sauces, marinades, soups, stews and desserts. The reason it is used is because the flavors in particular foods do not emerge without alcohol.

Any alcohol can not be added to any food though; you must correctly match the right kind of alcohol with the right kind of food. If the match is not correct then the alcohol will simply worsen the taste of a food, which will also happen if too much alcohol is added.

Of course, the less alcohol added to begin with, the less potency you will end up with in the dish after cooking. Contrary to popular belief, not all of the alcohol is burned off as a result of cooking it.

Research has shown that most of the alcohol remains present after being cooked for short periods of time. It is unlikely that the alcohol content retained will be sufficient to get the person eating the dish drunk though. A dish must be cooked for several for the alcohol to be almost entirely dissipated.

As well as the quantity of alcohol added, the quality of it will also have a significant effect on the taste of the finished dish. Avoid using cheap beers, wines and liqueurs for cooking, as using quality brands will give a much superior taste.

Should you wish to do so, it is possible to avoid using alcohol in recipes that require it. Though you will not get quite the same result, in terms of flavor, you can use non-alcoholic wine or beer in place of alcoholic ones. To replace rum or flavored liqueur in recipes, use extracts of juices / zests and, for heartier liqueurs, use a mixture of soy sauce and tomato juice / sauce.

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