THE EXPER TS Dont use TIPS: you wont wines in cooking tha d t There is rink nothing su c h as too While

ile u muc h si brandy, a ng a fine quality lways sip it first No matt e looks neve r how cool a flamb r face direc look it at with your tly above it Good w in While u es make good food si a full bod ng Red Wine, c hoose ied cabern et prefera with wood bly y complimen overtones to t the citrus of orange fruity flav ours p apricot an eel, the crunc h of d the swee honey.. tness of

Photo Courtesy : Lalit Ashok, Bangalore

recipes for several years now. It is the same with grilling. Rum is a great ingredient while making some delicious pineapple or banana dessert recipes. Alcohol has a good tenderizing medium for meats apart from imparting a good flavour. Beer gives chicken a subtle and delicious flavour on a grill while making it tender, says Mr. Aslam Gafoor, COO Weber, India on using alcohol for grilling on a barbeque. The alcohol in the wine evaporates while the food is cooking, and only the flavour remains. Boiling down wine concentrates the flavour, including acidity and sweetness. Make sure not to use too much wine as the flavour could overpower your dish. Wine should not be added to a dish just before serving. The wine should simmer with the food, or sauce, to enhance the flavour of the dish. If added late in the preparation, it could impart a harsh quality. For ultimate flavour, wine should be reduced slowly over

low heat. This method takes more time and effort, but will achieve a superior sauce because the flavor compounds present in the wine are better preserved, says Chef Prashant Tikadia- Kohinoor continental. Before using a particular wine, rum or beer you should always be careful about whether it will go with the taste of your dish or not, it should not ruin the taste of the food but make it better. I find cooking with wine lots of fun as it allows you to experiment. A young bold red wine blends well with meats and imparts a sophisticated flavour to the dish, which is otherwise difficult to achieve with just a dash of herb or spice said Chef Manu Chandra, Executive Chef Olive Beach, Bangalore and Olive Bar and Kitchen, Mumbai. He uses red wine in his dish, Aromatic Lamb, which is a duo of Kid Lamb, and claims that Red Wine is a popular ingredient in marinades too. Chef Kedar, from Grand Hyatt, Mumbai believes that, Alcohol enhances the flavour of food especially when it is married well with the right ingredients. Example: fish with white wine, lamb with rum, crustaceans with brandy etc. Some chefs are very specific about the brand of wine or whisky that they

use as it makes the dish as perfect as you want it to be. Just like chef Shilpi Gupta, The Grand New Delhi who says, I use whisky or rum to Flame my red meat especially Jack Daniel or Bourbon as they not only are potent libation, it also lends incredible flavour to many dishes and give a deeper, richer flavour structure to the dish. Chef Nimish Bhatia, Regional Executive Chef, South - The Lalit Ashok, Bangalore used white wine in his dish, Jhinge ki Chapli not only for the exotic flavour but also for some more reasons, he says, The use of white wine in this prawn dish not only adds flavour to it but also helps keep the meat soft and moist as it is grilled. The alcohol also drains out the extra fat from the kebab. Chef Ravi Saxena from The Claridges uses dark rum in his bitter chocolate cake and believes that, Dark rum contributes immensely to the flavour of the cake and goes well in combination with bitter chocolate Food author Morrison Wood once very rightly remarked, It is, of course, entirely possible to cook without using wine. It is also possible to wear suits and dresses made out of gunny sacks, but who wants to? So, get going and try the exciting new alcoholic dishes available all over to satiate your palate.
Food and Nightlife August 2011

15