SC - Cherries and wine

[Lenny Zimmermann]

On 10 Jul, Claricia Nyetgale (Erin Kenny <Erin.Kenny at sofkin.ca>)
wrote:

>Ok, for those of us who can't / don't partake, what is a good juice 
>to substitute for wine if you are cooking cherries?  Would white 
>grape juice work?

That depends on why you aren't "partaking". If you are worried about
the alcohol and you are actually COOKING it, then there is very little
to worry about. The alcohol itself will burn off, as it evaporates at
a much lower temperature than boiling water. (Anyone know the boiling
point of alcohol off the top of their head?)

If you have other problems with alcohol itself you could always try
some of the de-alcoholized wines available from St. Regis, Ariel and
Sutter-Home, where the alcohol content is about the same as you would
find in orange juice or a slice of bread. And if you also cook it, it
should burn off the rest of that as well. This will at least give some
of the qualities imparted from a fermented juice that are not found in
juice alone, such as the tannins in a red wine, for example. 

If you simply cannot stand the sulfites that you might find in any of
the above, home-brewed wines might be a consideration with, again,
cooking off the alcohol. (Some people are very sensitive to sulfites
and they can make you sick and/or give you migraines, if you are prone
to them. Some foreign and some home-brewed wines do not use slfites to
stop the fermentation process. Check the label closely or ask the
brewer.) I would suppose, though, that if all else fails I'd go with
grape juice (white or red based on usage) and the addition of a bit of
wine or balsamic vinegar (or both). I'd say a between a tsp and Tbls
per cup of juice as your taste prefers.

That's what I'D do, but others may have better ideas.


Honos Servio,
Lionardo Acquistapace, Barony of Bjornsborg, Ansteorra
(mka Lenny Zimmermann, San Antonio, TX)
zarlor at acm.org
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