Cooking with Wines & Spirits

Some wines and foods are natural partners: Madeira is perfect with tongue or ham, red wine with strawberries, cognac with chocolate. Marriages between alcohol and food have often been made as a result of common origins: kirsch is made from, and served with, cherries, just as Calvados, an apple brandy, is served with apples. The taste for a particular association may be regional, like the Alsatian custom of adding white Riesling to sauerkraut.

Red and white wines are employed in all areas of cooking. They add a richness to soups, stews and sauces, can enliven a stock, deglaze pan juices, and flavor desserts of all kinds. Brandies and spirits offer additional possibilities and most can be used in both savory and sweet recipes. Fortified wines provide a particularly elegant finish to sauces and soups as well as rich meats and desserts. As heartier alternatives, beer and hard cider are best suited to savory dishes—robust stews, braises, or batters for deep-frying which benefit from their effervescence. Liqueurs and cordials feature in dishes served at the end of the meal.