What Wine to Cook With?
The first and most important rule of thumb is: cook only with a wine you would drink. If the wine is OK to drink, it’s OK to cook with. There is even a cookbook out by a renowned chef which has a picture of the kitchen in which can be seen a box of wine. (An added plus of the box is that it is air-tight, so it can stay on the shelf or in the fridge without “turning”). The wine to avoid is so-called cooking wine located in the supermarket near the vinegar. “Cooking wine” is a poor quality wine packaged so it can be priced higher than it should, and is a wine to which salt is added, either to prevent you from drinking it straight or to “help” in seasoning. Avoid “cooking wines” even if it means not using wine at all. Start using a very mainstream white and/or red to cook with. As you get more accustomed to using wine as an ingredient you can start to play around. You can simply buy an extra bottle of the wine you are planning to serve with dinner, and use it in the dish. Or you could get
