red wine

gibson123

The main reason for adding alcohol to dishes is to de-glaze the pan and to carry the flavour to your nose.

De-glazing lifts the flavour from the bottom of the pan into the food, you can get the same effect simply by adding any liquid and scraping the bottom of the pan with your wooden spoon.

The 2nd thing is more difficult to understand quite simply most food is water based, however the flavour we taste with our nose (the aroma) is a huge part of the overall taste sensation - think about how you can't taste anything with a blocked nose, or how you hold your nose when taking an unpleasant tasting medicine.

Anyway the alcohol binds with fat and carries the fat aromas to your nose. This does not happen without the alcohol, and you will only usually get the more watery aromas of normal food.

The result is a much more satisfying taste, but essentially alcohol is an enhancer rather than a necessity.

Having a good sniff at your food before eating probably has the same effect.

Not sure if this helps, but it does put things in context.

gibson123

Callie22 wrote: »

The person I was thinking of won't eat anything with alcohol in it, as they insist that it doesn't burn off. I've been through this so many times with them but tbh, it's not worth the argument ... It's enough to drive you to drink

Sorry -- Cooking does not burn off all the alcohol, unless you cook for over 3 hours in an uncovered pan or dish.

krlyr

Going a bit OT, but I would be wary of adding alcohol to a dish for someone who purposely does not drink without checking if it's OK too (and respecting their wishes if they say not to) as it's not just the alcohol factor that affects people. My mum suffers from terrible sinus problems that are allergy based and often certain alcohols (especially certain wines) can be the culprit. My boss's wife gets similar, but with bad migraines, from wine.

Pee

nickyhutch wrote: »

Why would you leave it out? The alcohol burns off in cooking.

Out of respect.