WINE IN COOKING

 What is alcohol?

Alcohol is basically liquid resulting from the fermentation of sugar substances, which is isolated by distillation. The word was first used by alchemists, who derived it from the Arabic word ‘al kohl’, which originally meant pulverized antimony and then mean to came any product used crushed to a powder.in the middle ages alcohol was considered an elixir of life from which it acquired the name eau-de-vie. It came to use as a drink towards the end of 15^th century when all kinds of herbs and plants were introduced to it. Finally the invention of rectification and still transformed it into mass market. Alcohol has antiseptic properties but it becomes toxic when quantity exceeds in blood.

Wine and its history

A drink made from the juice of the grape, the sugar in the juice is converted to alcohol by the action of yeast in the process of fermentation.

 History of wine is as old as that of civilization, initially the vine grew wild and late in Mesopotamia the idea of making it into a drink emerged. The Egyptians were including wine in their funereal ceremonies 3000 year before Christ. The bible makes numerous allusions to the Hebrews as the great lover of wine. According to mythology the art of cultivating vine and making wine from it was taught to Greeks by Dionysus. In fact it was undoubtedly the Egyptians who spread this art throughout the Mediterranean region particularly Sicily and southern Italy. In middle ages, viticulture was linked to propagation of Christianity, each monastery producing its own wine for the mass and therapeutic use and working hard on improving the quality. Till today some of the best wines from burgundy France is still produced in monastery.

Wine and cooking

The custom of using wine for preparation of food goes back to ancient time. Red, white and rosé wines as well as champagne figure in numerous recipes, in regional dishes local wines are used. For Example, an Italian risotto will be paired with an Italian wine, and French sauces taste best with French wines.

Wine while cooking can be used in majorly 3 ways

·        Use it in a Marinade – If a dish calls for a stiff meat or a meat which has a lot of protein, adding wine to the marinade helps it to smooth down before cooking. Plus, there is an added advantage of wine acting as a tenderizer as it contains a lot of acidic character

·        Use it to enhance the flavor: Wines have phenolic compounds which impart aroma and flavor to the dish. Make sure that the wine is supposed to be cooked through or else it can give off flavors

·        Use it as a cooking liquid – Wines can be poured directly onto a pan and the other ingredients can be poached or braised or cooked in the same liquid which is cooking it and imparting a great load of flavors to the dish.

There are general rules for using wine for cooking, whatever its color, the wine must be clean without any harsh aggressive taste. Very cheap wine does not react well in cooking so it is advisable to use something better, superior in quality although this does not need to be a great wine.  

Lot of wine writers and sommeliers segregate wines for cooking in 6 Sub sections

1. Dry Red and White Wines

DRY simply means a wine which does not contain a lot of sugar ideally < 30 gram per litre. This stated we can say that the wines falling under this particular are pretty acidic or else simply speaking khatta but balanced not like lemon.

2.              Nutty Wine ( Oxidized Wine )  

We have heard that oxygen can destroy the wine, oxidation mellows the flavour of the wine and takes it to a grape vinegar stage. But if the oxidation is controlled properly and systematically the wine can develop more nutty flavour and a light brownish color.

1.1 Dry Nutty Wines

Dry Nutty simply means it has been exposed to air and has very less sugar content. This wine have a mellow flavour than that of standard wines and a much higher alcoholic content

1.2 Sweet Nutty Wines

Sweet Nutty you can guess right? Correct. These wines have a Sweet taste which can be felt on the tongue. These wines can also be very syrupy and viscous. These wines can be used as a topping or a quick sauce over desserts and gateaux.

3.              Sweet Fortified Red Wines (Port)

Fortified means added Spirits. These wines have been added with Spirits deliberately to preserve the wines and kill the yeast before it has the chance of consuming all of the sugars. Hence these wines have deep ruby colour and are really cheap also they can keep for like a month. Port reductions are very famous

4.              Sweet White Wines

Generally White wines are very dry and acidic, but some producers alter the wine making process to add the sugar content to the wine without actually adding sugar directly as it is illegal to do so.This special characteristics of the sweet wines of acidity and sweetness makes it apt to use it with delicately flavoured dishes as well as desserts

Using wine in French cuisine

France has a long culture of using wine in their food one classical example of this is coq au vin it is a braised preparation of chicken. 

This preparation is from Burgundy, this region of France is also famous for red wine which have a complex flavor and not so strong in alcohol. A 2-5 year old Marsannay will pair well with chicken not so earthy and having good amount to acid to uplift the flavour. During preparation of this dish chicken and aromatic vegetables are marinated in burgundy red wine and then on other day the dish is braised, so long cooking hours burns all the alcohol leaving behind a pleasant taste. Reaming liquid is made into a sauce by thickening it.

In Italian cuisine one can find use of wine in their classical dessert zabaglione it’s a light foamy dessert made by whisking egg yolk, wine and sugar over a gentle heat. It is made with dry white wine (Asti), sweet white wine (sauternes), Marsala, port or a mixture of wine and liqueur.

In this article we talked about how wine is used in cooking in international cuisine. But in next article we will talk about how one can use wine in Indian cuisine.