We all know you have to wind up in the kitchen at some point. There’s no potential in completely avoiding the fact. Though you may not call yourself a Chef De Cuisine of the modern foyer, here’s your opportunity.
Let’s begin.
*Disclaimer: Please, do not, above all, call me a substandard revolutionary in all things edible; rather, take some consideration for what I plan on discussing. Before I start, I would like to indicate there’s really no wrong way of going through any cooking process, but there’s a lot of things one can do to completely upend the creation of a successful meal.
*The best ingredients are always fresh, cooperative, but generally simplistic.
*Taste your food often. If you don’t like it, someone else probably won’t.
*Use wine.
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| Azeitao White |
The magic response, rather than the question, seems apparent now. “Use wine” you say? Yes, you will use wine tonight. Whether or not you actually can utilize it, is beyond question; since most of anything vinous in the kitchen-side, is friendly enough for any epicurean concoction. I’ve seen curries take-on the common Tannat and I’ve encountered Muscats in corn muffins. Laugh as you will, I can go on forever about this...Believe it or not, there’s many things your cupboard-bound wine portfolio is not openly describing. Perhaps one, is the foundation on which most stews, sauces, bases, rues, etc. are made: A Dry Wine. Yes, you have probably read all the supermarket leaflets describing ways to uplift the ante of your dish by using whites, or reds that originated somewhere between red burgundies and white Bordeaux. The latter is always true, but you have to know who you’re getting it from in order impart that same flavor profile back into your entree.
| Juan Gil |
I want you to second-guess me here, because today, I’m not talking about French wine when it comes to sure-fire cooking. Sure, I’d probably be the one preaching about how the international aspects of “Vins Des Cuisines” are succinctly French, but I too, get tired of such gestures. I have a little bottle of “JP” that does the trick when I’m braising shellfish, or roasting anything winged. It’s a white wine, it’s from Portugal, It’s blended, and I can’t say how many times It’s pulled me out of some tense situations. When I need to deglaze, or simply disengage those scratchy bits of protein stuck to a pan bottom, It really works. It’s not a big white, or a stony, mineral-driven one, but It has enough fruit to justify a carnivore’s Sunday roast. Red, red, red...what do we do with you exactly? I’m not sure, that is, because it really depends on what you’re making. I’ve seen “Lamb Malbec” (the dish) prepared with all the implicit possibilities. The wine can be a great choice for beef and cuts of cloven-footed animals, but let’s not stop there. In a manner, pastas can take a Chianti Colli Senesi, or anything of a birthright within the common Sangiovese...”Denominatzione?” Not applicable. My favorite all-time, no blunder, ‘easy-done-it’ red, has to be Juan Gil. Now, some of my friend would beg me to be serious, but I stand unflinching in my attempt to take-on shouts and dirty expletives here. J.G.’s Monastrell (i.e. Mourvedre, Mataro) is about $14-16 bucks depending on where you buy it, but the ingredient is a prime factor in many of my favorite dishes. Paella? Its tannins eagerly temper starches and the crusty “socarrat.” Chicken? It’s earthy tonnage and herbal notes flavor the entire bird. Barbecue? With a little brown sugar and lime, your next pork dish will represent why loins are the most popular hangups.
I don’t know about most people, but the general Idea is to fare the economy when finding that irreplaceable “cooking wine.” I don’t intend to encourage eager consumers to spend fortunes in order to find the right one, but there’s more advantageous choices to be made in buying better products. If you find yourself at the brim of a bottle that appears “too reasonable,” then it’s probably not worth the ruination suffered in those occasional gastronomic blunders we all experience at one time or another. As many forefathers and foremothers have duly respected the golden rule of cooking, it pays to know that we can always add something, but never take it out.
The trick is, to understand the addition.
Brian Maniotis
Westchester Wine Warehouse Team
Visit us @: westchesterwine.com
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