[Sca-cooks] Wine in cooking -- was, Re: Sca-cooks Digest, Vol 6, Issue 81

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Oct 29, 2006, at 7:38 AM, Harry Bilings wrote:

> Every thing I have heard about useing wine to cook with is if you  
> would not
> drink it don't cook with it.
>
>
>
> plachoya
> humble archer
> Ravens Fort Ansteorra

That's a pretty standard rule, and a variation on the First Rule of  
Food Service:  Never try to put into anyone's mouth anything which,  
for quality concerns, you wouldn't want in your own mouth.

That said, and as has been said here today, you can use cheap jug  
wine, or even box wine, in a marinade that you wouldn't want to  
necessarily drink a big ol' glass of, or several smaller ones (the  
wine, that is, not the marinade). What I never use under any  
circumstances is any wine specifically labelled as cooking wine --  
generally they're just too awful for words, and after that, they're  
often treated with salt (I'll sometimes break this rule in Chinese  
cooking with some salted rice or sorghum wines, which are distinctly  
high octane and when used with ingredients like soy sauce, what's a  
bit more salt among friends?) I've heard that it's to prevent people  
from drinking it...

Now, for Sauce Bordelaise, or something like that? You want real,  
serious wine that has never known the fatal kiss of the waxed  
cardboard carton or the plastic box liner, or even the gallon jug ;-)...

Adamantius, by no means a wine snob