The use of wine in food making has been going mainstream lately, considering a decent bottle no longer costs a whole month’s worth of earnings, and a single shot can surprisingly complement the mix of tastes.
Happen to find some of this unique ingredient left in the fridge? Then you have got yourself a perfect opportunity to test these four tips to bring out more flavours in your meal using wine!
4 Tips To Bring Out More Flavors In Your Meal Using Wine
Why bother leaving good wine languishing at some corners in the kitchen when you can have it impart some exclusive quality to a dish or two? Understand the magic wine casts on everyday ingredients and begin turning your meal from ordinary to extraordinary right from today!
Don’t Choose The Wrong Wine.
Safe in knowing that wine makes a side-effect-free addition to almost all food groups regardless of the type, people pour whatever they have on hand into the cookware with nary a second thought. However, we don’t encourage this habit as the wrong pairing takes a real toll on the tastes of the finished dish.
For a balanced, praise-worthy combination that creates the aroma and finger-licking factors you always wish for, remember that you should prioritize dryness over sweetness.
If it humors your palates, chances are the sugar content within isn’t low and may add a side you never ask for to the food in your pot (unless you are making desserts).
Don’t forget that you need to take the types of wine into account as well! The actual lists can come together and form a book, but we split cooking wine into two categories.
Red Wine
This beverage is the favorite of many wine connoisseurs for the wide availability of types. This applies to the cooking aspects, and four are typically preferred over the others.
- Malbec: Something on the wild side has heavier tastes.
- The elegant Cabernet sauvignon with a full-bodied splash enhances the flavors of braised red meat full of protein.
- Pinot noir provides a lighter texture for meaty stew and seafood.
- Low-tannins Merlot is for a juicy bite of turkey and various kinds of meaty stews.
White Wine
White wine tops the list of cooks who find a lighter flavor more to their liking. It’s rich but not over-complicated, so achieving a sophisticated yet subtle tweak in your meal’s taste with it isn’t hard at all.
Wine of this color comes in 3 quintessential kinds:
- Sauvignon blanc for a citrusy quality – a fine choice when cooking risotto.
- Pinot grigio – dry and crisp for your weekend seafood feast’s finishing touch.
- Chardonnay – a full-body wine that your creamy recipes need.
Read more: What Are The Healthiest Wine?
Avoid The Wine You Would Never Drink
There is nothing wrong with making your purchase for cooking wine at the corner store that barely hears of fine winemaking, just as there is nothing wrong with loading into your cabinets a series of vino as long as they suit your taste.
But a lot will go wrong the moment you put in your meal the taste of the wine you can’t even stand as beverages.
The logic is simple. Most factors that give the bottle its most specific traits might be lost as you simmer the food, but the taste will remain there, seeping into your ingredients bit by bit. How can you expect to swallow it down if one single sip puts you off?
We know, abandoning a whole bottle is an extreme form of wastage, but you will end up throwing away your dinner when using the wine. Maybe consider gifting it to a friend.
Notes For Marination
Marinating food, especially red meat, in a wine before throwing them in the cookware allows the flavor-intensifying elements to sink into the core and remain there even under high heat.
The food’s texture also turns much softer by that point as this liquid’s acidity does a great job breaking down all the protein. For that reason, don’t hesitate to pour a considerable amount of wine into the ingredient bowl before throwing it all in the cookware.
But we will have you know that using that exact wine to season your meal on the stove is a terrible idea.
The uncooked meat may contain bacteria, which probably migrate to the alcoholic pool surrounding them while you wait for the flavor to build up. It would be better to pour that into the drain and go for what remains in the bottle during the cooking process.
Want to try this flavor-complementing technique but couldn’t decide what ingredients to soak your wine in? Some juicy steak would make a brilliant option: https://ingredient-recipes.com/skirt-steak-alternative/.
How Long? How Much?
Wine is a world different from other seasonings or spices you are used to in the kitchen. Rushing it is the fastest way to turn your meal into a disaster.
The reason is that wine takes time to infiltrate the density of your ingredients. Unless you take your time and add it in as gradually as possible, going from one fraction to another, your final results may be overwhelmed by the smell and taste of wine.
The color is another factor to take into consideration when it comes to calculating the time. A serving containing white wine takes no longer than what you usually spend to finish that dish without it. But red wine calls for a long wait so that the color can shift to the desired stunning tone.
Conclusion
Cooking with wine is an art in its form. You will be working towards creating a culinary masterpiece. And if you manage to get things right, you get to enjoy a reward blessed with fragrance, tastes, as well as pleasing color.
The straight-to-the-point tips to bring out more flavors in your meal using wine should be more than enough to change your skill for the better. Make them your golden rules to adhere to, and that’s how you understand the nitty-gritty of your daily meals’ dose of wine.