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+--- Thread: cooking wine (/thread-1099.html)
- pjclelland - 10-19-2003
I'm totally clueless but very interested in how to choose a "dry" cooking wine to be used in the preparation of onion soup. I know nothing of wines.
- wineguruchgo - 10-19-2003
Since I'm the polar opposite of you (I know wine, but don't cook) I would say use a cheap Pinot Grigio for this. The oak in the chardonnay might be too much for the soup and the citrus and melon in Sauvignon Blanc would throw different flavors into your soup.
I'm sure Foodie and some of the others might have a suggestion for you as well.
- Innkeeper - 10-19-2003
Hi PJ, and welcome to the Wine Board. The inexpensive Pinot Grigio would work. I would prefer the most inexpensive Macon-Blanc or Macon-Villages I could find.
- Kcwhippet - 10-19-2003
i'd use a Chard, and to put the guru at ease, I'd use the Kim Crawford Unoaked from NZ.
- Thomas - 10-20-2003
...and never under any circumstances use or even buy so-called cooking wine--it is unfit for human consumption!
- pjclelland - 10-20-2003
Thank you all for your quick and overwhelming response. My wife and I will now choose one and we'll let you know if it's a winner. [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/redface.gif[/img] I really am a bit disconcerted with the "chard" suggestion. This because I think it means a wine made from chard, fermented in other than oak barrels. (From New Zealand?) Am I further embarrassing myself?
- Kcwhippet - 10-20-2003
The problem with using an oaky Chardonnay, or any other oaky wine, in cooking is precisely because of the oak. When using any wine as an addition to the soup base, in a sauce or in a reduction the liquid (alcohol and water) will evaporate to some degree leaving the less volatile components in the final preparation. If you start with a wine that has a prominent oakiness, the final preparation will often leave you with the impression that you're sucking on hardwood flooring. That's not a character I'd be pleased with in the foods I cook.
Heed Foodie's advice well on not using supermarket cooking wines. They start with generally inferior wines and have added sugar, salt and preservatives. They add the salt primarily to make them unfit as drinking wines, so why would you want to cook with them? It's very difficult to adjust the seasoning later on in a dish because of the added salt and sugar. If a preparation calls for minimal salt, you would probably overseason if you added the recipe amount to a dish prepared with the "cooking wine". Just say no! I was taught to season minimally during preparation and to adjust, if needed, just before serving. That technique has worked for me for about forty years so far. I guess I tend to go on about preparing good food, but I hate to see a dish ruined by using inferior ingredients.
- winedope1 - 10-20-2003
personally, I add a good brandy-Cognac ( just a few tablespoons for a 6 serving recipe) and dry white Vermouth, following Julia Child's classic recipe. Of course, I'm sure that there are a number of variations out there. This one is classic French. WD
[This message has been edited by winedope1 (edited 10-20-2003).]