Cooking With Beer, Wine & Liqueurs
Alcohol is an ingredient in many different recipes - it is used in a variety of sauces, marinades, soups, stews and desserts. The reason it is used is because the flavors in certain foods do not emerge without alcohol.
Any alcohol can not be added to any food though; you must correctly match the right kind of alcohol with the right kind of food. If the match is not correct then the alcohol will simply worsen the taste of a food.
Naturally, the less alcohol added to begin with, the less potency you will end up with in the finished dish. Contrary to popular belief, the alcohol is not completely burned off as a result of cooking it.
Research has shown that most of the alcohol remains present after being cooked for less than a couple of hours. It is highly unlikely that the potency of the alcohol retained will be high enough to get those eating the dish drunk though. A dish must be cooked for several for the alcohol to be almost entirely dissipated.
As well as how much alcohol you add, the quality of the alcohol used will also have a significant effect on how good the finished dish tastes. Avoid using cheap wines, liqueurs and beers for cooking, as the taste of the dish will not be anywhere near good as if quality brands had been used.
Should you wish to do so, you can actually avoid using alcohol in recipes that require it. Though you will not get the full bodied flavor of using alcoholic beverages, it is permissible to use non-alcoholic beer or wine in place of alcoholic ones. To substitute flavored liqueur or rum in a recipe, use zests or extracts of juices and, for strong tasting liqueurs, use a mixture of soy sauce and tomato juice / sauce.

















