Love story of food & booze

A nice dram or a glass of wine surely makes dinner more pleasurable. But ask a Chef and he/she will simply tell you that the real beauty and power of an alcoholic beverage lies not in what it does at the table but what it does in the kitchen. It is an enigma how the culinary magicians combine the food with alcoholic beverages with such masterly finesse.

What does alcoholic beverages do to food in the kitchen? Undoubtedly, alcohol enhances the flavours in the food.The alcohol content in the beverages improves flavour perception in at least two important ways: by evaporation and by molecular bonding.

Chefs’ romance with booze is not new; it has very deep links with history. Some food writers claim that there is no such history in India and this trend of cooking with liquor had originated in the ancient times, in some western & Asian countries. This contention is not correct as our marital races and royal houses (especially in Rajasthan & Punjab) were fond of eating mutton or game cooked with rum. In modern times, a good number of Chefs have adopted this fascinating tradition of creating a nuanced & flavourful dish with infusion of alcoholic beverage.

There is no dearth of experimentation of food with booze. There are different styles used by Chefs like braising, deglazing, sautéing and flambé (flaming liquor) to bring out heightened flavours and add interesting twist to the dishes. Chefs love to play with alcoholic beverages because of their ability to bond well with both fat and water as seen in a marinade or brine. As the flavour compounds in aromatics like garlic, herbs, or other seasonings dissolve only in fat, alcohol helps carry those compounds into the meat that is soaking in the marinade. It is said that alcoholic beverage also carries any water-soluble flavour compounds into the meat’s cells.

This results in more flavour and aroma in the marinated food. Spirits & food gel well and merge intrinsically, there by creating a new story in frying pans & pots. This love story excites Chefs to no end as Chef Tarun Sibal says, “It is the overall food and alcoholic beverage culture that gets me excited.” Chef Dirham Haque is very careful about pairing liquor with food as he is guided by the tasting notes of that particular spirit. Some Chefs like Chef Anirban Dasgupta had no early date with liquor but once they got introduced to it and realised how this potent beverage brings out flavour, they were hooked to it. Now liquor has become a prolific element in cooking of Chef Anirban.

Chef Dipna Anand loves to experiment with brandy, while Chef Nishant vouches for vodka, which brings a transformation to his signature dish, Goan Bibinca. It is Sake that Chef Nitin Bhardwaj prefers while making Japanese cuisine for bringing out the umami flavours, while for Chef Vaibhav Bhargava it is beer that adds a rich, earthy flavour to the dish. Chef Manoj Rai likes to use liquor because it increases the shelf life of dishes
like desserts.

Such stories of Chefs’ romance with booze are endless. By reading such fascinating tales, we are inspired to try our hand in the kitchen and make a dish to surprise our loved ones.

So, why delay, just pick your choice of booze from your home bar and bring it to the kitchen. It is time for some ‘spirited cooking’.