We’ve all tipped wine into one dish or another in our cooking history, but have you wondered why you would use vodka in a tomato sauce? When we use wine, we tend to pour in amounts that will impart a lot of its own flavor. According to Harold McGee when using larger quantities will “trap volatile molecules in the food” But when we add just the smallest amount of a vodka it will “increase volatility” and intensify the aroma. The molecular structure of ethanol also makes it a great emulsifier, as it helps bind the water and fats in the sauce.
This is also the main difference and how I like to explain the use of salt and pepper. Salt isn’t added to make something taste salty, it is added to make whatever you are cooking taste more like itself (flavor enhancement) conversely, the addition of pepper alters the resulting end flavor (flavor changer) As you go forth, I encourage you to play around with different alcohols and see how they affect the end result of your sauces.
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