Fortified Wines

Cubans use sherry quite a bit in their cooking. I like chicken Marsala a lot and often have a good port as a digestivo. But it has been a while, so I might be in the market for some this weekend.
 
Morning Glory said:
Yes - marsala with chicken is lovely indeed.
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Do you (or anyone else) know if Marsala wine needs to be of super fine (and expensive) quality in order to make a decent chicken Marsala? I love chicken Marsala but have never made it. We have been a bit on a roll here lately with chicken dishes infused with booze and I think I would like to make chicken Marsala, but we don't happen to keep it in stock.
 
JAS_OH1 said:
Do you (or anyone else) know if Marsala wine needs to be of super fine (and expensive) quality in order to make a decent chicken Marsala? I love chicken Marsala but have never made it. We have been a bit on a roll here lately with chicken dishes infused with booze and I think I would like to make chicken Marsala, but we don't happen to keep it in stock.
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Russ
 
JAS_OH1 said:
Do you (or anyone else) know if Marsala wine needs to be of super fine (and expensive) quality in order to make a decent chicken Marsala? I love chicken Marsala but have never made it. We have been a bit on a roll here lately with chicken dishes infused with booze and I think I would like to make chicken Marsala, but we don't happen to keep it in stock.
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It doesn't have to be expensive, no. Around here, though, you have to go somewhere with a better wine selection than the grocery store. Otherwise, you'll end up with something labeled "Marsala cooking wine," and that stuff is terrible.
 
TastyReuben said:
It doesn't have to be expensive, no. Around here, though, you have to go somewhere with a better wine selection than the grocery store. Otherwise, you'll end up with something labeled "Marsala cooking wine," and that stuff is terrible.
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I'm generally happy to use cheapish alcohol when cooking, but bought some very cheap Marsala from a supermarket in Italy a couple of years ago on impulse and it was absolutely rank :yuck: Thank goodness we tried tasting it before attempting to use it in a dish!

Though I like fortified wines in general, I'm not hugely familiar with Marsala so maybe I was just unlucky in my choice. When we next get the chance to visit Italy I'll be trying again but I'll be doing a bit of research beforehand. My current strategy is if in a supermarket I'll look for something that costs around the same as a bottle of sherry or port. In a wine shop hopefully I'll be safe looking at the cheaper ones because they tend not to stock anything too cheap and nasty.
 
JAS_OH1 said:
Do you (or anyone else) know if Marsala wine needs to be of super fine (and expensive) quality in order to make a decent chicken Marsala?
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I'd say not. I don't use expensive wine in cooking at all. I honestly think its a waste. I tend to use a decent drinkable wine.
 
JAS_OH1 said:
Do you (or anyone else) know if Marsala wine needs to be of super fine (and expensive) quality in order to make a decent chicken Marsala? I love chicken Marsala but have never made it. We have been a bit on a roll here lately with chicken dishes infused with booze and I think I would like to make chicken Marsala, but we don't happen to keep it in stock.
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Generally is better to use a good quality wines when cooking and not too cheap and this goes also with Marsala (dry for cooking), although is not necessary to spend too much for it. But I am in Italy so maybe to me is easier to find more choices? How many Marsala wines can you get there?
 
When I say "Marsala cooking wine," this is what I mean:
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That's all my local Kroger (with two long aisles of wine) carries in the way of Marsala.

Don't buy that. That's not Marsala. That's some foul cooking liquid that should be outlawed. Even the worst Marsala (like Taylor's) is better than that.
 
TastyReuben said:
When I say "Marsala cooking wine," this is what I mean:
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That's all my local Kroger (with two long aisles of wine) carries in the way of Marsala.

Don't buy that. That's not Marsala. That's some foul cooking liquid that should be outlawed. Even the worst Marsala (like Taylor's) is better than that.
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Agreed. That's the problem I am running into. So they (Holland House) dump a bunch of salt into it to make it legal for them to sell. Ugh.
 
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MypinchofItaly said:
Generally is better to use a good quality wines when cooking and not too cheap and this goes also with Marsala (dry for cooking), although is not necessary to spend too much for it. But I am in Italy so maybe to me is easier to find more choices? How many Marsala wines can you get there?
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I was thinking the same thing, and as I have been reading up on it after posting last night. I want to use a good dry Marsala. We have limited choices apparently, I checked two grocery stores, a liquor store, and a specialty market (World Market) that has a nice selection of wines. Not only do they not carry what I am looking for, the wine "expert" at World Market didn't even know that there was any Marsala wine that wasn't just cooking wine, and he didn't know that there were dry and sweet varieties. I'm going to call a few fancy schmancy grocers today and see what I can find. Someone somewhere has to have some Marsala that is better than Holland House at $5 a bottle. I am thinking $10 a bottle if I get lucky enough to find someone that has something decent. It's no hurry, I might make this weekend.

Edited to add that I might end up having to order online.
 
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