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When it comes to wine and food, the ancient Romans are often quoted.

That can be annoying at times, but when it comes to “cooking with wine” they actually left something valuable for posterity, the first traditional dispute on this matter, which was fought in the 1st century AD between Marcus Gavius ​​Apicius and Gaius Plinius Secundus Maior.

Marcus Apicius was the cook of the rich and powerful.

Gaius Pliny, also known as Pliny the Elder and one of the leading viticulture experts of his time, accused his opponent of being the biggest waster of drinking wine because he boiled it up by the liter for some wicked orgy - and only the best quality.

There was no winner in this dispute, but the rich and powerful have not let the use of the best wines for cooking spoil them.

How the Roman Empire ended is known.

The topic of cooking wine is still polarizing today, because almost everyone who cooks a lot with wine primarily relies on their own experience.

Rainer Schönfeld is a chemist and committed hobby cook.

As a blogger, he has specialized in so-called "wine-food pairings", combining good wines with fine dining.

Mostly from Thursday evening to Sunday lunchtime he posts in the Facebook group “Main thing wine”, and you can learn a lot from him in the process.

When it comes to cooking, there are generally two types of wine, he explains.

First, the wine that you pour into the pot or pan.

And secondly, the wine that you drink with your meal - sometimes, if seldom, it's the same at Schönfeld.

Bad wine, bad sauce

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Should one use expensive wines in cooking, maybe even the best?

“Of course you can also cook expensive wines,” says Schönfeld.

“It doesn't make the food any worse.

But it won't do much. ”He advises against using cheap, so-called cooking wines - or even faulty wines that had to be sorted out, wines with a cork taste or oxidized wines:“ The mistake is guaranteed to be found in the sauce . "

So does it have to be at least a high quality wine?

“That depends on how you define high quality,” replies Marcus Hofschuster, wine journalist at the Internet portal “Wein-Plus”.

“But it should be a wine that has qualities.

And such wines are mostly wines from good and well-known winemakers and rarely wines from anonymous wineries.

If you save on cooking wine, you save on food. "

Hofschuster has been writing full-time about wine since 1998 and, like blogger Schönfeld, is an accomplished hobby cook.

His specialty: Bœuf bourguignon.

"I like to use a simple Côtes du Rhône for my sauces," says Hofschuster, "but even these wines cost between ten and 15 euros and are not cheap."

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What makes the perfect cooking wine?

“Low acidity, low tannins and good, tasty fruit,” replies Hofschuster.

“That goes well with most sauces.” Should you dilute the wine with water when boiling?

“Everyone has to find out for themselves,” says Hofschuster, “but I only cook with wine and never dilute.

Even if a few bottles go missing sometimes, it's worth it. "

First take a long drink yourself

What was the most expensive wine he has ever cooked?

Juan Amador, German three-star chef in Vienna, doesn't have to think long.

“A guest gave me a large glass of a Burgundy from Domaine d'Auvenay so that I can cook the contents in the sauce for his dish.” You have to know that Auvenay wines cost a few thousand euros once they have matured a little .

“First I took a long drink myself,” says Amador and laughs.

After all, you want to know what you're cooking with. "

Three-star chef Juan Amador thinks it makes no sense to boil expensive wines.

Source: HELGE KIRCHBERGER

And did it help the sauce?

“Nothing that you could taste great,” says Amador.

“It's nonsense to overcook expensive wines.” He himself has been mixing special basic mixes for his sauces for years.

Amador enumerates: "For example from the sweet wine Montbazillac, from Riesling, white wine vinegar, apple juice and white port wine", "or from red wine vinegar, red port wine and red grape juice." for further reduction.

"This way I have a better grip on the taste and don't experience any surprises."

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Is Riesling suitable for sauces, as top chef Amador does?

Rainer Schönfeld is skeptical.

"You can only take Riesling if you reduce it a little," says the blogger, who has made the experience that white wine is generally more complicated to cook than red wine.

"The acidity always remains a problem and possibly a strong mineral tone." He continues: "With sweet wine, boiling down strengthens the sweetness, and aroma varieties such as Sauvignon blanc or Gewürztraminer always taste very special and are usually unsuitable." What remains ?

“Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay or Pinot Gris,” says Schönfeld.

It is important that the wines did not lie in the wood at all or only for a short time.

“Pinot Blanc usually has a very low acidity,” explains Schönfeld.

“It is therefore ideally suited to fish.

Pinot gris goes perfectly with white poultry because it has a slightly more intense aroma, more depth and a certain bass. "

A ladle full of blood sauce

Star chef Max Stiegl, who runs “Gut Purbach” in Burgenland, Austria, has his own ideas about cooking wine.

Stiegl cooks almost exclusively with game, offal and meat from old cows - hell for vegetarians.

Stiegl's kitchen calls for the most intense sauces.

What does a good cooking wine have to bring for him?

"Above all acidity and intense taste," says Stiegl.

“I recently took an old Golser Chardonnay from 2001 for a veal tongue, which was also allowed to mature in wooden barrels.

It was already very mature in taste, but that was exactly what gave the sauce the pizzazz. ”For his venison ragout, Stiegl pours liters of 2003 Pinot Noir from the Pichler winery in the nearby town of Schützen into the pot, a red wine with an intense taste from an extremely hot year - and also a wine that does not necessarily invite you to drink.

Star chef Max Stiegl primarily expects acidity and an intense taste from a cooking wine

Source: © Luzia Ellert

“At the end, I tie the sauce for the venison ragout with a lot of venison blood,” says Stiegl.

“That makes a really great blood sauce, of which I always get a ladle out of the pot to drink myself.” Stiegl is also not afraid of contact when it comes to sweet wines. Other cooks could say what they want: “I use one well for my goose sauce matured Ruster Ausbruch. “What if it gets too sweet?

"Then I mix in a little ripe Riesling and off you go."

So is it okay to mix cooking wines?

“Of course,” says Marcus Hofschuster.

“Nobody can stop me from pouring some soap into my Barolo sauce that brings something fresh.

And for the roast pork, I mix Pinot Noir with young, fruity Rioja and add a little Pilsner or dark beer towards the end.

It's the best roast pork sauce ever. "

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