Cooking with wine

Tue, Apr 01, 25

Cooking with wine is almost as old as cooking itself. People have been cooking with wine for 1000’s of years. Wine has been used as an ingredient in many recipes for many reasons over the centuries. Initially, in the ancient times, wine was healthier and cleaner than the water. People used wine and served wine with their foods in order to not get sick.

But wine was also used in recipes to help preserve the foods, to enhance the flavors and the complexites of the foods and acted as a meat tenderizer. A grape concentrate called defruntum, which was unfermented grape juice, was also used before sugars were introduced to the old world.

It was used to both sweeten and color foods, enhancing their appeal. Cooking with wine is, and was, found in every region of the world where wines are produced, but it was most prominently featured in foods from Europe, especially from France, Italy and Spain.

Archeologists have discovered evidence of wine being produced as far back as 6000 B.C. It is also believed that the “Cradle of Wine” was the region belonging to the Georgians, whose ancient ancestors discovered that burying grape juice underground for the winter turned it into something special. The grapes that were used by the Ancient Georgians were wild grapes. Evidence of the first actual wineries, where grapes were cultivated, was found in Ancient Armenia, at around 4100 B.C.

The first recorded history of wine being used for cooking comes from the Ancient Romans, in a cookbook from the 1st century, called De re coquinaria, or On Cooking. The Ancient Romans were known for using wine extensively in their cooking.

Today, cooking with wine is found everywhere, and it is used for many different purposes. Wine is used to marinate, macerate, saute, poach, boil, braise, stew, reduce or deglaze. Some cooks use wine for stir-fries, steaming or blanching. A splash of wine is an added flavor in many vinaigrettes and sauces. Wine is used as a flavoring agent in countless recipes, since it adds more depth and complexity to a dish than water.

Wine also adds acidity to foods, which helps break down the proteins and fats, making foods easier to digest. The possibilities of cooking with wine are endless. But don’t cook with cheap wines. If you are going to serve wine with the meal, use the same wines to cook with that you would serve with the meal. Another rule of thumb is to use the same guidelines when cooking with wines as you would for pairing wines and foods together for serving. As a general rule, red wines are for heartier red meats and lamb or for red sauces, such as a marinara sauce.

White wines are used for lighter foods, chicken, fish and lighter sauces, such as a béarnaise sauce. Pork is one of those grey areas though, that either a red wine or a white wine will work well, but it depends more on the type of sauce you are using for the pork. You want to pair food and wine of similar weight and texture when cooking with wines.

This helps balance out the recipe. If using wine for baking, generally a sweeter wine, such as a sweet Riesling or Gewürztraminer or a Moscato should be your wine of choice. Brandy and ports are also good choices for cooking purposes too, both sweet and savory. They too, will give a little sweetness and a rich quality to the foods.

The alcohol content of the wines will lessen in the cooking process, but it depends on how you are cooking it. For instance, if you are deglazing a skillet with wine, more alcohol than water will evaporate, and there will not be as much alcohol content remaining. You will be left more with the essence of the wine than the wine itself. In general though, alcohol evaporates at a lower temperature than water – between 172-187*F, whereas water evaporates at 212*F.

If you are using alcohol to flambé something, your dish will still contain roughly 75% of the alcohol, but if you are simmering a dish with wine it will only have about 25% of the alcohol content after 1 hour, and it lessons to only about 5% if it has been simmering for 2 ½ hours or more.

I cook with wine and alcohols all the time, and I even put them in my recipes too.

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I use wine in my recipes for a wide variety of different dishes, in all kinds of ways. Just recently, I made Irish stew for St. Patrick’s Day and I used Guinness to give my sauce a rich, nutty taste. I also made a Chateaubriand with a classic Bearnaise sauce, with a white wine base. These are just two of many, many recipes I prepare that include wine or alcohol. But as I mentioned above, the possibilities are endless.

I hope this article helps open your world of cooking to include wines for your recipes too. Don’t be afraid to experiment with wines when cooking, and yes, even using those wines for the recipes rather than just sampling purposes.

Enjoy! Be creative! But most importantly, have fun. If you like this article, please check out my food blog “A Jeanne in the Kitchen”. I have lots more fun recipes and ideas about cooking, food and wine just waiting to be discovered and shared.

By Arlington Wine and Liquor