Dry White Wine for Cooking

"Wine makes every meal an occasion, every table more elegant, every day more civilized," is a beautiful quote by Andre Simon. Wines have today become an integral part of most meals. Dry white wines are not only meant for drinking, but by using a good dry white wine for cooking, a delicious dish can be prepared. The process of wine making of dry white wine is very simple. It is fermented till it contains the least amount of sugar and thus, maximum quantity of alcohol. Dry wines are not sweet, but have a tart acid taste. Dry white wines are renowned for their lightness, clear amber color, aroma, and their stimulating acidity.

Dry White Wine for Cooking

Among the different types of white wines, dry white wines are extensively used for cooking. A dry white wine for cooking is used to prevent the sweet flavor that a dish gets when cooked with red wine. A wine when associated with food is generally used as a drink with the meal, to marinate or as an ingredient in a dish. You can marinate meat, vegetables or cheese with dry white wine. Such marinated items have a delicate flavor. Generally, while cooking, the alcohol content in the wine evaporates, and only the flavor remains behind. Care should be taken while using wine for cooking. Too much of the wine might add a strong unsavory flavor, and too little of the dry wine might not give the desired flavor. Dry white wines for cooking are used to make light and creamy sauces. Good dry white wines are used in soups, pork, veal, shrimps, fish, mussels and lobster recipes.

Best Dry White Wines for Cooking

'The criterion for choosing the best dry white wine for cooking is to choose the one that you would also like to drink.' For cooking a delicacy, one can choose from the range of dry and medium-dry white wines, that are available. Listed below are the 5 best dry white wine types used for cooking.

Chardonnay: This is a crispy clear wine which blends well with seafood, pork and many chicken recipes. This is the best dry white wine for cooking gravy, that is creamy and rich. It is expensive, but also one of the most selling and celebrated dry white wines. One needs a bit more expertise to cook with Chardonnay. While cooking one needs to control the high amount of acidity.

Sauvignon Blanc: It originated in the Bordeaux wine region of France. If you are a beginner, cooking with Sauvignon Blanc is a good idea. Sauvignon Blanc is a light wine with a herby flavor. This is a good dry white wine for cooking light and herb flavored sauce.

Pinot Gris: This is another popular dry white wine. For a fruity flavored and light white wine gravy, select Pinot Gris. It goes especially well with seafood recipes.

Vermouth: It is a crystal clear wine that looks like water. This is a fortified wine and is infused with herbs. It goes well with most non-vegetarian dishes like seafood and poultry.

Riesling: It comes under the medium-dry white wines category. As it ages, its quality becomes better. It's high in acidity, which makes it crispy. This is a good dry white wine for cooking seafood soups and bouillabaisse.

These were some of the best dry white wine names. Here are three popular delicacies prepared using dry white wines.

Recipes

There are several recipes that are exalted from their ordinary status, thanks to the addition of wine. Here are a few recipes that use dry white wine for cooking.

Spicy Veg Risotto Recipe
This recipe for risotto, using dry white wine, is a treat for vegetarians and vegans, and very easy to prepare. The ingredients you require are:

• 1 onion finely chopped
• 3 green onions sliced
• 1 red bell pepper chopped
• 1 spoon garlic paste
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon chili pepper flakes
• Salt and pepper according to taste
• 1 and 1/2 cups of rice (arborio)
• 2 and 1/2 cups of vegetable broth
• 2/3 cup of dry white wine
• Olive oil

In a pan, heat the oil. Add the onions and fry them till light brown. Add green onions, garlic, bell pepper and fry for 5 minutes on medium flame. Mix arborio rice and cook for a minute. Now, add cayenne pepper and pepper flakes. Pour half a cup of vegetable broth and let it be absorbed properly. Pour the rest of the vegetable broth and after a minute add the wine, half a cup at a time. Serve in a bowl, garnish with salt, pepper and cheese.

Mussels in Creamy Sauce
This is one of the easiest seafood mussels recipes that uses dry white wine for cooking mussels. A chardonnay will be a good choice for this recipe. If you cannot use chardonnay, you can use a regular dry white wine. Here is the list of ingredients:

• 1 and 1/2 tbsp garlic paste
• 2 French shallots finely chopped
• 3 tbsp chopped parsley
• 2 green onions finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1 and 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 4 tbsp butter
• 1 cup of cream
• Around 30 mussels (cleaned and debearded)

For making the mussels sauce, take a large saucepan and cook the garlic and French shallots in simmering wine. Cook till the shallots and garlic look translucent. Mix the cream in the saucepan. Add curry powder to it. Steam cook the mussels by covering the pan for few minutes. Wait till the shells open wide, transfer these shells into a bowl. Discard the shells which do not open. In the saucepan, add the butter and whip. Turn off the flame. Add spring onions and parsley to the sauce and mix well and serve immediately with Italian bread.

Quick Shrimp Scampi Recipe
This is a light dish, using dry white wine for cooking shrimp scampi. The ingredients required are:

• 1 teaspoon garlic paste
• 1 small onion diced
• 2 tbsp parsley chopped
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 4 tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup of dry white wine
• 13 jumbo shrimps (peeled and deveined)
• Salt and pepper to taste

In a pan, fry garlic, onion and parsley in butter, till everything turns soft. Turn the flame low and add the shrimps. Stir for 5 minutes. Remove the shrimps in a bowl. In the pan, add the remaining ingredients and cook for 2 minutes. Pour this over the shrimps and serve hot with French bread. You can cook some more delicious recipes by reading more on, shrimp recipes.

Tips for Dry White Wine for Cooking

• Never use cooking wines to substitute dry white wine, as cooking wines are very sweet and might ruin the dish.
• Substitutes for wines for cooking are lemon juice and vinegar but they won't give the same flavor as dry white wine.
• Refrigerate the leftover wine, and use it within 2 weeks.
• Choose a wine for cooking, which you would enjoy drinking.
• Champagne also falls in the dry white wine list. A good dry champagne can also be used for cooking.
• Like red wine, white wine also prevents many heart and cancer diseases.

So, if you are not an alcoholic or a teetotaler, you can enjoy dry white wine for cooking. And the best part is you can indulge in the flavor and aroma of the delicacy, because as rightly said by Louis Pasteur,"The flavor of wine is like delicate poetry". Bon appetit!