22.9 Cooking without wine

Wine gives a sauce acidity, and red wine adds body and color too. When a dish has to be made without alcohol, other liquids can do the same work.

Replacing the acidity

To replace the acidity of 1 cup of wine or another alcoholic ingredient, use one of these:

• ½ cup of verjus
• 1 to 2 teaspoons of lemon juice
• 1 to 2 teaspoons of white wine vinegar

Stir the replacement in a little at a time, tasting as you go, and stop when the sauce tastes right rather than adding the full amount at once.

In place of red wine

• Pomegranate juice, cooked down, gives a full body that stands in well for red wine.
  ▶ Watch
• Very strong tea with a little vinegar comes close to dry red wine, because the tea brings the same bitter tannins.
  ▶ Watch
• Water, then a big splash of balsamic vinegar, deglazes a quick pan sauce.
  ▶ Watch
• Dealcoholized red wine is sold for cooking; it tastes much like sparkling grape juice.
  ▶ Watch
• Vegetable stock can take the place of red wine in a chili or stew.
  ▶ Watch

In place of white wine

• Broth with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice, in the same amount as the wine.
  ▶ Watch
• White grape juice.
  ▶ Watch
• White wine vinegar, using half as much as the wine.
  ▶ Watch

How much alcohol cooks off

A braise does not need wine at all; it can be cooked in stock alone.

When wine is used, cooking drives off much of the alcohol but never all of it. Two habits remove the most:

• Add the wine first and let it reduce before the other liquids go in.
  ▶ Watch
• Leave the lid off while the wine cooks, so the alcohol can escape.
  ▶ Watch