Cooking with Alcohol | Pairing Guide
When you are cooking any meal, adding a splash of wine, beer, or spirits like whiskey can deepen the flavor and bring out the bouquet of the food. But what form of alcohol should you use? The booze that you choose depends on the effect you are going for. In pastas with a silky sauce, vodka will help emulsification. In a long simmered stew a dark beer or dry red wine will strengthen the flavors and scent for a super hearty meal. Continue reading this article about cooking with alcohol for some pointers on pairing that will not only make you a fantastic cocktail but also provide incredible flavors to your next barbecued meal.
What Alcohol to use when Cooking or Grilling
As a general rule, you should use a drink that you would be comfortable drinking yourself or sharing with others at the dinner table. The cheapest of cheap that you wouldn’t consider drinking yourself will not lend anything to your meal, however, the careful nuances of a bottle of Chateau Mouton Rothschild ($2000+ USD/bottle) will be lost when added to a braise.
Cooking with Red Wine
Dry wines are ideal for cooking savory dishes, the darker color pairs best with dark red meats, heavier and deeply flavored meals. While still acceptable to use with lighter foods, think poultry and fish, it can affect the color of the food itself which can be visually displeasing. The dry wines listed below will also be ideal for desserts, though, a sweeter or smoother wine could be better.
For your next BBQ, try one of these Red Wines:
- Cabernet Sauvignon
- Merlot
- Pinot Noir
For your next BBQ Dessert, try one of these Red Wines:
- Zinfandel
- Port
- Muscat
Elk and Wild Boar Ragu with Cabernet Sauvignon
If you are looking for a fancy recipe for dinner, then you have come to the right place. This recipe for Elk and Wild Boar Ragu features the powerful savory flavours of Gnarly Head Cabernet Sauvignon and pairs them perfectly with a pasta dinner that is worthy of your refined palate.
Cooking with White Wine
White wine is ideal for pasta, light sauces, seafood, poultry, fruit, and vegetables. Use it to steam or create a delicate pan sauce. It won’t change the color of the food you are using it with and provides a more delicate flavor than a red would have but still provides the same effect, causing a flavor explosion for both nose and tongue.
For your next BBQ with White Wine try:
- Sauvignon Blanc
- Pinot Grigio
- Riesling
For your next BBQ Dessert with White Wine try:
- Chardonnay
- Moscato
- Ice Wine - VERY sweet
Chardonnay Smoked Salmon
Really up this recipe by soaking apple or pecan with Chardonnay. Adding the wine to the wood chips will create a lightly smoky flavor tickles the senses.
What does dry wine mean?
Dry wine refers to the tannins present. They give you a dry or slightly puckery feeling much like cranberry juice or tea. The opposite of this would be sweet or smooth wines, which have less of that puckering acidity and a higher sugar content which makes them better for dessert-y applications.
Cooking with Beer
The bitterness of hops and sweetness from malted grains can create amazing flavors. Adding beer to marinades and barbecue sauces will lend a light bitterness while serving to create a depth of flavor through further caramelization on the food that it has touched. Build additional body in stews and chilis, meals that you would tend to simmer for extended periods. Add beer to baked goods for extra leavening on top of the goodness you added with baking soda and baking powder. Just be aware that beer can curdle dairy products that do not have a lot of fat in them. So if you are cooking with beer and dairy together, be sure to use full fat instead.
Bitter and crisp beers like Pilsner will brighten food in a similar fashion to adding a squeeze of citrus to your dish. Dark and malty beers like Guinness, will add a depth of flavor, being ideal for dark meat, heavy, and savory meals, but can also add quite the oomph to dark desserts where chocolate is involved. Beer can also be added to batters for deep frying, the carbonation and rapid evaporation of the alcohol can create a flavorful and airy crust around your favorite foods. Also, don’t discount a nice beer to use instead of wine to deglaze a pan for an exceptional sauce.
Chicken Wings with Steam Whistle Pilsner BBQ Sauce
Chicken wings with Steam Whistle pilsner BBQ sauce are a pretty fast recipe, they're great for a snack, party, or even for dinner. What a perfect way to use beer when you barbecue.
Guinness Mac & Cheese
Adding Guinness to macaroni and cheese added this new depth of flavour that makes this Guinness Mac & Cheese the best macaroni and cheese ever.
Cooking with Cider
Ciders fall somewhere between wine and beer, they are a fruit forward alcoholic beverage but have the same qualities as beer (without the gluten). Brighten dishes, add gravitas to baked goods like bread or cakes, and even use in sauces, to deglaze, make gravy, or even as the base for a braise.
Cooking with Whiskey & Bourbon
Pairing perfectly with flame-cooked meats for ages immemorial, cooking using whisky or bourbon is almost natural when it comes to the grill. Like wine, if you wouldn’t drink it, you shouldn’t cook with it, but you shouldn’t use your Glenfiddich Grand Cru at $600/bottle. Whisky, scotch, and bourbon are aged in barrels that are often made of oak and charred on the inside. This can result in a smoky taste, while the barrel material will lend sweet notes of caramel, vanilla, and more. These flavors are perfect for barbecue.
It is ideal to use Whisky in longer cooks when you wish to truly deepen the flavor of a meal. However, it can bring life to marinades, can be used as an added bonus in a pan sauce, and is brilliant for BBQ sauces and baked goods. Be aware when working near open flame, this beverage will flare up due to the high alcoholic content.
Tomahawk Steaks with Scotch Salt
While barbecuing tomahawk steak sounds like a daunting task, this easy recipe will show you how to BBQ a tomahawk steak to perfection
Barbecue Baked Sticky Toffee Pudding
The barbecue dessert recipe that we're sharing here today is a playful take on the original recipe but I've added a little Canadian charm.
Cooking with Vodka
Vodka is amazing when it comes to an alcohol for cooking. While wine is possibly the most popular choice, vodka could be a great go-to when you don’t wish to change or add to flavors in a dish. Vodka is very mild and neutral, so it pairs well in a cocktail and won’t overshadow ingredients in your dish. Instead, it will enhance the flavors of the other ingredients because the taste is so mild.
This spirit is amazing. It emulsifies fat in liquids making it perfect for those creamy and silky pasta sauces. Vodka also prevents gluten development in pastry, which produces a tender and flakey crust when compared to using water. Added to batters for deep frying, vodka helps to create a crispier exterior due to the rapid evaporation of the alcohol. When you plan on cooking with vodka, try to go with a lower proof when possible. Less ABV (alcohol by volume) will help you prevent accidentally flambeeing when cooking on your barbecue. If you plan on using vodka in your marinades, use less because it will denature protein if left too long, leading to a strange or unpleasant texture.
Chicken Ala Vodka
This recipe uses vodka to supercharge the flavors and assist in emulsifying the fat and liquid in the sauce for a silky meal unlike any other.
Cooking with Tequila
Pairing perfectly with smoky and citrusy foods, earthy and floral tequila is another great choice when adding alcohol to something you are cooking. Tequila also goes well with foods that are acidic - a tomato-based recipe - or spicy - like hot wings – and will bring out even more flavor from the ingredients. Tequila can help emulsify fats and liquids together as well. Tequila is very versatile and will work with just about any food in the same way you would use wine or other spirits in a dish. So, if you at least have some tequila, you are all set.
There are three types of tequila you can purchase. Each has its own unique properties, but you should always select ones labeled 100% agave for the best flavor.
- Blacno – this is unaged tequila, it’s very light in color and works very well in applications where you would use white wine, it’s great for salad dressings, and sauces.
- Reposado – this type of tequila is aged in barrels for 2 months to a year. It gains properties like whisky does, gaining smokiness and vanilla notes from the barrels it is aged in. This makes reposado tequila great for BBQ Sauce, marinades, and most grilled foods.
- Añejo tequila – has been aged in oak barrels for 1 to 3 years and features very rich vanilla or caramel flavors. It is a premium drink for sipping, but can truly amplify desserts, and glazes when used sparingly. You can also try it in a compound butter for atop steaks.
Margarita Grilled Shrimp
This recipe is easy and fast, making the perfect appetizer for around 6, or a great dinner for 3 or 4. Paired perfectly with easy-to-make lime-a-ritas, you have a delightful and fantastic summertime recipe.
Margarita Ice Cream
This recipe is easy and doesn't require churning. Serve it off of the Napoleon Himalayan Salt Platter Set for a really authentic Margarita taste.
Cooking with Rum
Rum is a fun drink to cook with. Made from fermented sugarcane, rum gains its color from the barrels it is aged in. Rum pairs well with fruit, dessert, and pork. Treat most rum like wine when you are cooking with it. Just remember that it is on the sweet end of the spectrum, so you will want to taste it carefully before using it in a recipe. Rum is a great spirit to use in flambe because its content is over 40% and is 80 proof.
With rum being a byproduct of sugar production, there are many different kinds from many different places. Some of the most popular, easiest-to-find types are:
- Light Rum – also known as white or silver, it’s ideal for deglazing pans because the clarity of the rum will prevent cloudy pan sauces. light is best for savory, lighter dishes like poultry and seafood as well.
- Dark Rum – Aged in charred oak casks, these are rich and sweet, ideal for BBQ sauces, and would also do well for desserts.
- Spiced Rum – Heavy red meats, desserts, fruit, and other sweet applications, another rum that would pair well with BBQ sauces and even long braises.
Cooking with Gin
Gin is a botanical alcohol made with a mixture of herbs including juniper berries. Gin can go in both sweet and savory dishes to fantastic effect. Gin, however, is a dominating flavor, so use it sparingly in infusions for toppings, deserts, and cakes. It makes a great addition to marinades, sauces, and pairs amazingly with game meats like wild boar. Gin can also add a fantastic punch to your preserves.
Wild Boar Ribs with Gin Sauce
This recipe will take your rib game and send it to new levels of awesomeness. Pairing well with warm and earthy spices, the gamey taste of wild boar comes to life when you use cinnamon, allspice, and juniper.
Cooking with Sake
Sake is a Japanese spirit with incredible history. It is made by fermenting rice and can add intense umami and mellow flavors to dishes where sake is incorporated. Just like all of the above, you wouldn’t want to cook with drinking sake that you wouldn’t enjoy yourself. Drinking sake is more expensive than cooking sake but can be enjoyed while you partake in a delicious meal that has sake incorporated. Sake removes fishy odors and is fantastic to add to marinades. It is a very complementary beverage and tends to boost the flavors of other ingredients, allowing them to take a starting role in cooking.
There are a few other varieties of sake, cooking sake, that is concentrated, seasoned, and sometimes flavored in different ways. Cooking sake is ideal for several different cooking applications. You would not want to drink this type of sake and have to watch the savory version as it can cause saltiness in a meal. Mirin is sweetened cooking sake which is often used to balance the salty flavors when soy sauce is involved. It is also perfect in desserts and for glazes. Shaoxing wine (sh-ow-shing) is a Chinese version of sake and is generally seasoned. It is fantastic at adding complexity to your food and ideal in marinades, sauces, braises, and even for deglazing and making a pan sauce.
Cooking with Liqueurs
There are many different types of liqueurs, they can be made of fermented fruit, coffee, and even chocolate, and herbs. Fruit varieties of liqueurs are ideal for fruity and sweet desserts or fruit-flavored foods. Add some to fruit-flavored wood smoking chips while they soak to intensify that fruit flavor and create a fruity steam before the chips ignite for smoking.
Coffee and chocolate flavored liqueurs enhance chocolate or coffee flavored desserts and baked goods and can also be infused into whipping cream. These will also pair beautifully in long cooks like a stew or a braise, adding incredible depth of flavor.
Brandy and cognac are just a couple of the liqueurs that are made from wine. These types of liqueurs are ideal for adding complexity and depth through caramelization to baked goods, glazes, dark meats, and slow/long-cooked foods.
Pineapple Chicken Teriyaki
Teriyaki sauce is flavorful and a little sweet, it can be light or cooked down to an intense and sticky pairing for just about any of your favorite proteins. This recipe teaches you how to make that quintessential sauce and combines it with a bit of an Island twist.
Kahlua Chocolate Cake with Strawberries & Cream
Kahlua Chocolate Cake with Strawberries & Cream was created in celebration of National Kahlua Day and National Strawberry Day.
Share with us your delicious creations paired with alcohol
By using this pairing guide, you have hopefully gained a better understanding cooking with alcohol. Will you try adding a splash of something to your next recipe? What is your favorite liquid libation to incorporate into your barbecue recipes? Tell us all about it by sharing your stories, recipes, and photos with us on social pages like Facebook and Tiktok, using the hashtags #NapoleonEats and #NapoleonGrills.
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