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Food in focus |  |
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Food & Fortified Wines
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Fortified wines are wines to which a spirit, usually grape brandy, has been added. They were originally created to protect wines on long sea voyages as they are more stable to changing temperatures, are higher in alcohol and have a more robust flavour. Unlike wine, they keep well once opened. Most fortified wines are sweet, but there are a few dry varieties.
In South Africa there is a great selection of fortified wines. The most popular (also in cooking) is sherry, produced in three styles: dry, medium cream and full cream (the sweetest). Dry sherry is often used in Asian dishes, especially in marinades, and you can use it as a substitute for rice wine in Asian recipes. Don't use sweet sherry if the recipe calls for dry sherry because it will give a totally different flavour. Dry sherries are also delicious added to vegetable-based soups.
Second on the popularity list is Port. There's tawny Port, which is amber coloured from about 10 years of wood ageing; ruby Port, with a brighter colour and fruity palate, aged for five years in wood; and vintage Port; a specific style of Port originally made in Portugal, which can be aged in the bottle for up to 20 years. Port is delicious in meat stews and kidney or sweetbread dishes. It's also often used in desserts and fruit dishes.
Marsala is a sweet, fortified, blended wine that is matured in wood for between two and five years and you can buy a good locally made Marsala at the better liquor stores. It's often used in chicken dishes to great effect.
Muscadel is a sweet, fortified wine made from red or white muscadel grapes. The label may say 'muscadel jerepigo'. Jerepigo is the method used to make the wine and this particular jerepigo would be made using muscadel grapes.
When cooking with fortified wine, bear in mind the rule (that Floyd made famous) that applies to cooking with wine of any sort: if it's not good enough to drink, it certainly isn't good enough to cook with. A poor-quality wine will simply ruin your dish. Fortified wines are often added at the end of the cooking process so the flavours may be quite distinct, which again emphasises why it's important to use a good-quality wine.
You don't have to add lots of fortified wine to your dishes; the flavours are strong and the alcohol will not always have time to cook away. A couple of splashes will be enough to enhance the flavour of the dish. Be careful when you use fortified wines in your dishes because each one has individual tastes, ranging from delicate and dry, to sweet and rich. And many of them have been aged, allowing them to develop intense flavours. Unless you really know what you're doing, always use the wine specified in the recipe.
Fortified wines have three main uses in cooking. Firstly, it makes an excellent marinade as the alcohol and acid help tenderise meat before cooking and help soften tough fibres. Secondly, many great cooks love to deglaze the pan with a fortified wine by adding a splash or two to the pan after frying to form the base of the best sauces. Lastly, added at the end of the cooking period, it's used to flavour marinades, sauces, stews or desserts.
For heaps of inspiring recipes using fortified wines, simply type the name of your favourite fortified wine in the search box, and off you go.
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Tip of the day | |
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Fortified wine in cooking
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