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I understand that it deglazez or enhances but why don´t we use water or lemon juice.
What makes wine suitable?
Based on my experience, I'm going to say what makes it suitable is simply taste. Just as chicken stock is suitable to use for certain things, vodka is what you use for some things, lemon juice for some, and water is what you use for certain things - it's another ingredient used to achieve a result that tastes a certain way. There's nothing magical about it - it's a liquid. That happens to have alcohol in it (which is usually cooked off for the most part). That imparts a certain flavor.
You don't HAVE to use it - you don't HAVE to use ANY specific liquid - replace it with what you want - what you think would taste good. For a basic example, when I make rice, I use chicken broth as the liquid. It gives the rice a particular something we enjoy. Water is used by other people all the time - it's just a substitution to achieve a certain taste.
BUT OF COURSE I could be totally wrong - if you're looking for a more "sciencey" explanation, I can't help you there. Science and I don't have a real close relationship.
Based on my experience, I'm going to say what makes it suitable is simply taste. Just as chicken stock is suitable to use for certain things, vodka is what you use for some things, lemon juice for some, and water is what you use for certain things - it's another ingredient used to achieve a result that tastes a certain way. There's nothing magical about it - it's a liquid. That happens to have alcohol in it (which is usually cooked off for the most part). That imparts a certain flavor.
You don't HAVE to use it - you don't HAVE to use ANY specific liquid - replace it with what you want - what you think would taste good. For a basic example, when I make rice, I use chicken broth as the liquid. It gives the rice a particular something we enjoy. Water is used by other people all the time - it's just a substitution to achieve a certain taste.
BUT OF COURSE I could be totally wrong - if you're looking for a more "sciencey" explanation, I can't help you there. Science and I don't have a real close relationship.
I understand it´s the ¨FLAVOR¨ of wine that enhanced the dish.
I love to use it.
My question is what makes this combination good?
Is it the acidity + fragnance of wine that makes it suitable?
You shouldn't notice the actual "fragrance" of the wine if the dish has been cooked properly. The acidity, tannins, and flavor notes in a wine should meld with the other flavors and seasonings of a dish. A dish, like Coq au Vin, shouldn't scream that it contains wine; the overall flavor should be enhanced by the wine.
When I cook a dish with wine, the presence of the wine isn't obvious in the expression of the wine's flavor, but rather how it enhances the flavor profile of the dish.
Location: St Thomas, USVI - Seattle, WA - Gulf Coast, TX
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Why do you add vanilla to specific types of cookies instead of almond extract? Why do you use lemon juice instead of vinegar in a specific salad dressing? Why do you add bitters to cocktails? You're basically asking all of those same questions, with a very general question about cooking with wine. There are no hard and fast rules, but there are some general sensibilities about how to bring out food's greatest potential by adding sweetness, sourness, depth of flavor through the release of aromatic compounds, bitterness... you get the idea. It's a little more subjective than what you might be hoping for, but I think I can help.
In general, wine is a flavor enhancer that offers an incredible depth of flavor through its ability to impart sourness, sweetness, bitterness, and depth of flavor through the characters of its own, complex flavors, as well as through the release of aromatic compounds. It adds sourness through its acidity, sweetness through the sugars it contains (even dry wines when reduced contain a lot of sugar), and bitterness and astringency through tannins. Wine is loaded with complex aromatics that enhance the flavor of food in a unique way. Wine has a complexity that many other flavor enhancers don't, which is what makes it a great way to build layers of flavor in food.
Alcohol, specifically, has the ability to unlock volatile, aromatic compounds that are not only contained in the wine, itself, but in the other ingredients in a dish. As a specific example, alcohol molecules cause fruity ester molecules to be released from things like tomatoes. These volatile compounds are aromatics. They enhance the taste of food by enhancing the aromas.
It's not a "theory," it's solid chemistry. And it's delicious. Cheers to a fellow wine-using cook!
Why do you add vanilla to specific types of cookies instead of almond extract? Why do you use lemon juice instead of vinegar in a specific salad dressing? Why do you add bitters to cocktails? You're basically asking all of those same questions, with a very general question about cooking with wine. There are no hard and fast rules, but there are some general sensibilities about how to bring out food's greatest potential by adding sweetness, sourness, depth of flavor through the release of aromatic compounds, bitterness... you get the idea. It's a little more subjective than what you might be hoping for, but I think I can help.
In general, wine is a flavor enhancer that offers an incredible depth of flavor through its ability to impart sourness, sweetness, bitterness, and depth of flavor through the characters of its own, complex flavors, as well as through the release of aromatic compounds. It adds sourness through its acidity, sweetness through the sugars it contains (even dry wines when reduced contain a lot of sugar), and bitterness and astringency through tannins. Wine is loaded with complex aromatics that enhance the flavor of food in a unique way. Wine has a complexity that many other flavor enhancers don't, which is what makes it a great way to build layers of flavor in food.
Alcohol, specifically, has the ability to unlock volatile, aromatic compounds that are not only contained in the wine, itself, but in the other ingredients in a dish. As a specific example, alcohol molecules cause fruity ester molecules to be released from things like tomatoes. These volatile compounds are aromatics. They enhance the taste of food by enhancing the aromas.
It's not a "theory," it's solid chemistry. And it's delicious. Cheers to a fellow wine-using cook!
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