[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Doing a wine marinade can be tricky as it can be hard to judge how long you need to marinate your dish, how much herbs you need to add, and also what kind of wine to use? Red or white?<\/em><\/p>\n

The Don’ts<\/strong><\/h2>\n

“Ok it is fine, just grab a cheap 2\u20ac bottle, it is just for cooking”. Please, please, please – don\u2019t<\/strong>. Sure, you will cook it after marinating, so you\u2019ll be removing the alcohol, but you are still concentrating the flavors. So if you concentrate bad flavors, with a cheap wine, you\u2019ll get a bad base for your marinade; and even more important, you want to eat it \u2026 think about it \u2026<\/p>\n

So not a 2\u20ac wine, but of course not a 50\u20ac wine either, or just half of it if you can afford it, and drink the rest.<\/p>\n

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The Do’s<\/strong><\/h2>\n

A great rule of thumb in terms of wine marinades is if you can drink the same wine as you used for marinating your meat, or fish; you will definitely have a good balance of flavors. So which wine for which marinade: white or red, or both?<\/p>\n

You need to understand first that marinating a dish was used in the past to preserve food<\/strong>, especially meat: using oil, sugar, and the acidity of the wine. It has very powerful flavors and mainly to tenderize the meat. Thus, the marinating time is very important.<\/p>\n

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The 3 types of marinade<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Raw marinade<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The most popular marinade, where the meat is (usually) covered with wine and aromatic herbs and vegetables (olive oil, thyme, savory, shallot, garlic, bay leaves, cloves, pepper). Let it rest for at least 24 hours depending on the meat; the more the stronger & tougher the meat, the more it has to marinate to become softer and moister.<\/p>\n

I usually use a strong tannic red wine<\/strong> for marinating meats, beef or pork, which are not very strong in flavor and white wine<\/strong> for game or lamb. You don\u2019t need to overpower the meat with overly strong wine, as it would be too much.<\/p>\n

And always taste your marinade<\/strong>, if it is too acidic, or too sweet, it is not ok: as always, it has to be balanced. And no salt in the marinade, it will cook the meat too much and will tighten the meat fibers, which is the opposite of what you are aiming for when marinating.<\/p>\n

Cooked marinade<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Same garnish but you would be pan searing<\/strong> your meats and seasoning before deglazing<\/strong> it with wine and continue cooking till done. And then let it rest and cool down: it is better if you are marinating a whole leg of meat (big pieces). This is the old-fashioned way of stewing<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Instant marinade<\/strong><\/h4>\n

There is usually no wine in this one, but the acidity is replaced with lemon or vinegar<\/strong>, but sometimes light white wine<\/strong> can be used. It is a great marinade to cook a fish or seafood, keeping all the flavors.<\/p>\n

Well now you have the tips, so get cooking!<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you marinate your meat or fish? What do you grab, cooking wine? A bit of red? A bit of white? Well if you want to ensure that you are doing justice to your food, you\u2019ll want to read Sommelier & foodie Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Duverger\u2019s tips on wine marinades.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":5735,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,936],"tags":[29],"class_list":["post-831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-blog-posts","category-blog-pre-2020","tag-frederic-duverger"],"yoast_head":"\n