Using alcohol in cooking

Morning Glory

Obsessive cook
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Do you use alcohol when you cook? To my mind it is one of those ingredients which adds a deeper dimension to a dish. Oddly enough (I always think) vegan and vegetarian dishes use alcohol far less than meaty cooking. Maybe this is a legacy of the puritanical health conscious vegetarian movement back in the early part of the 20th century? Yet there are so many meatless dishes which can 'sing' if they have a little alcohol added.

I reckon that all manner of dishes can be enhanced and improved by a splash of beer, wine or spirits. Tell us which alcohols you use in cooking. And if you don't use alcohol in cooking, why not?

wine cartoon.jpg
 
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Lager in beer battered fish, Cointreau in my pate, it does enhance the flavour. Red wine in casseroles etc.
I use it often.

I also use cheap lager in batter for fish or chicken (not for pakoras). I suppose that I could use carbonated water but we never have any. We always have lager.
 
Maybe this is a legacy of the puritanical health conscious vegetarian movement back in the early part of the 20th century?
Or more likely tho do with the fact that wines in particular were not vegetarian (let alone vegan). It is much better now than 30 years ago but you still have to double check to see if the wine had been filtered through fish bladders or bone char. Sherry, port are likewise.
Spirits aren't too much of a problem.

There's an website now that allows you to check to see if it is vegetarian/vegan. http://www.barnivore.com

Sadly most wines are still not vegetarian/vegan despite most fining agents being so.
 
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Sadly most wines are still not vegetarian/vegan despite most fining agents being so.

According to wine app Vivino, all you have to do is look out for the words ‘unfined’ or ‘unfiltered’ on the wine label and you’ll know that it doesn’t contain any animal products. ‘The hack comes as more and more Brits are adopting a vegan-friendly diet,’ says Aaron Maughan from Vivino.

Source: https://metro.co.uk/2017/04/28/buyi...checking-for-unfiltered-on-the-label-6603200/
 
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