Adding alcohol to recipes can enhance the flavour and turn any ordinary dish into something spectacular and worthy of special occasions and parties
A glass of wine with dinner makes speciality dishes more civilised and pleasurable. However, you might be flabbergasted with the fact that several packaged and cooked foods you buy from gourmet shops, or delicacies you enjoy in a fabulous dinner contain alcohol.
Adding alcohol or its other forms — beer, wine, fortified wines and liqueurs — to recipes gives another dimension to the flavour and can make any ordinary dish into something spectacular and worthy of special occasions and parties. No any other method of cooking can add such richness and aroma to the food items that alcohol does.
Add a few splashes of alcohol in food
Vinegar that adds a magic touch to many Indian cuisines is made from a variety of ingredients, including wine, hard cider and grain alcohol. It is made by the process of fermentation in which specific bacteria convert the alcoholic beverages into acetic acid. Vinegar comes in different varieties in which cider vinegar is credited with several health benefits including weight loss. Therefore, it is a part of many health food stores. Apart from this, wine vinegar is valued for its fruity fragrances and slightly nutty undertones.
Full-flavoured, red-wine vinegars are added to heartier foods for strong aroma, while the lighter white-wine and champagne vinegars give refreshment and delicate flavours to the dishes. Moreover, seasoned rice vinegar is added to all the savoury rice dishes whether it is a sushi, biryani, or dosa (made with rice flour and urad dal flour) for delectable taste.
The balsamic vinegar, which is, in reality, a red-wine vinegar prepared from grape juice go nicely as an ingredient in a number of dishes. The sweet and sour taste of this vinegar is often added to slow-cooked foods, blended with oil and salad dressings, or used as deglazing liquid for reduction sauces or meat-based sauces.
There are variety of food items cooked with alcohol including marinated meats and stews. Beer is a valuable ingredient of marinades and sauces due to its enzymes that have a tenderising effect. This liquor is widely used in a variety of cooking techniques including braising, baking, deglazing, batter-frying, poaching, salad dressings and simmering. The addition of beer in food provides a delectable flavour to dishes. Cooking experts use an ideal amount of beer in cooking so that its flavour does not overwhelm the other ingredients in the dish. For a better flavour, the dish containing beer is cooked for a longer time. Moreover, wine’s enhancement of flavour perception can be noticed in the making of sauces such as béarnaise or bordelaise. In addition, several types of delicious sorbet and coffees also contain alcohol as an ingredient.
In the sweet and confectionery counter of a wedding ceremony, you will find an assortment of desserts including a variety of ice creams that are mixed with a generous amount of sherry or wine. Moreover, desserts such as cookies made with vanilla extracts, and baked goods such as pies and cakes, pastries like black forest or fruit cakes, or other sweet dishes like cherries jubilee mousse, flambé desserts all have traces of alcohol. Besides, a small amount of alcohol content is used in making no-bake desserts. Though alcohol is an excellent preservative, it has also been used to ferment pickles.
Improves flavour perception
Alcohol has flavour-enhancing properties. Just like a pinch of salt, small amounts of alcohol bring out the fragrance and flavour in food. The addition of wine, beer, or spirits while cooking food intensifies the taste in at least two key methods — molecular bonding and evaporation.
Volatility effect
When alcohol or its other general forms added in fruit salad or other dishes, it swiftly carries the general subtle aroma of the dishes to our olfactory sensors (nostrils), enhancing our overall delight of the food. Food items which contain a low concentration of alcohol, specifically less than one per cent improves the aroma of dish.
Molecular bonding
The ability of alcohol to bond with both fat and water molecules improves the taste penetration of the food. Our food primarily consists of water and our aroma receptors only respond to molecules that can be soluble in fat. In this case, alcohol bridges the gap between our fragrance receptors and taste buds.
If you want people to enjoy the subtle aroma of alcohol in food, flambé (flaming) is the way to go, but if you want to reduce the amount of alcohol in a finished dish, the best way is to bake or simmer the food in a wide open pan for a long period of time.
Bust the myth
Some people consider that the alcohol added to dish does not ‘boil off’ during the cooking process. The amount of alcohol retained in a completely cooked food is dependent on several factors, including the quantity of alcoholic beverages, the amount of heat applied, the physical dimensions of the cookware, and the cooking and standing time.
Spirits, wines, and liqueurs impart interesting new flavours to dishes and make any meal special. Therefore, these days, chefs are adding alcoholic beverages to almost anything they are preparing.
They have expertise in cooking and they know the right amount but an amateur, while cooking at home, should be well-versed with the type and the amount of liquor while adding it in food.