Question re cooking & sugar levels.

Mar 09, 2006 25 Replies

I have been asked a question by a culinary talented customer, who has asked the following question. What happens to sugar levels of (aussie) Muscats, Ports & Tokays when used in cooking. Whilst we know the alcohol is removed, what happens to sugar levels ?



I waxed lyrical about the afw forum, and the expertise of the wine folks, including chemists et al, and assured her the answer was probably simple, and I knew a source to gain the answer. I am sure the answer is either simple or I will be asked what type of cooking... :>)



TIA



Regards Swooper


Sugar content remains unchanged in absolute terms (it does not evaporate), it adds to whatever sugar was already there, and throughout the various processes (dilution with stock or other liquids, reduction, etc.) the concentration will change accordingly.

Same goes for the acidity (ok some of it may be volatile, if the recipe includes vinegar), except now you have many acids with diffferent characteristic combined.

Except a) Fermentaion - but that seems unlikely unless they are making bread, for example b) Caramelisation - possible

Correct

Would there be a change in the sugar content, unless you go too far and burn it? True when you make caramel those sugar vapours really get up your nose, but is the volume lost significant?

Mike Tommasi wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@individual.net:

A few years ago, I wanted to do a Pedro Ximenez sauce and tried to do it by using a saucepan and heating it. I did it slowly and all things were great until it started to boil. I got a thick caramel and ruined the teflon coated saucepan (and it was not an el-cheapo saucepan).

With time, I have learnt to do it even more slowly and not allowing it to boil. The water evaporates and the PX thickens. It does not taste like burnt rubber and I can re-utilize the saucepan. It goes great both with desserts and meats.

S.

Hey Santiago

this sounds like it would apply magnificently to magret de canard or, used sparingly, with quickly pan fried duck foie gras.

Mike Tommasi wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@individual.net:

True, providing you do not over-sauce. Just a little thread on the plate, because the sauce is both sweet and acid at the same time. Do not do it with Venerable, please (though I have done it) ;-)

S.

That reminds me of a confession of Bartholomew Broandbent on the Parker Forum. He once used one whole bottle of his 10 Y.O. Madeira to make a sauce for one steak.

M.

What's likely to happen to some of the sugar is the Maillard reaction, the process that's responsible for the browning of bread and other tasty events. It's also responsible for the brown color of caramelized sugar. However, a sweet wine has enough sugar that I suspect only a fraction will be consumed in the Maillard reaction.

Mark Lipton

Duck or goose "fatty liver"

"Ed Rasimus" skrev i melding news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

Duck? Thought it used to be goose. When I read "fois gras" I think of geese in Alsace, but, of course, you can have the liver from ducks and then will have to call it "fois gras de canard" or something like that. Hello Ian, you there? Anders

"Anders Tørneskog" wrote in news:44108de3$0$22979$ snipped-for-privacy@nn1-read.tele.net:

Sounds right to me, I like fois gras de canard, but the real deal well . . . break out the Champagne. or Vouvray.

Anders, a goose foie is way too big and expensive, and besides, foie gras de canard definitely tastes better, most food nuts I know seem to prefer it. I mean the real thing you know, not paté, I mean when you buy a complete liver in one piece, raw, and either marinate in in salt or rapidly pan fry it in slices ()after taking the nerves out).

Michael Pronay wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@pronay.com:

It is really nice to see an Austrian and an American contributing in Spanish to this forum ;-)

Saludos,

S.

Thanks Mike & Bill, I knew afw would hold the answers...:>)

hooroo.....

Salut/Hi Anders Tørneskog,

le/on Thu, 9 Mar 2006 21:20:14 +0100, tu disais/you said:-

To be pedantic, it's simply wrong!!

Goose is more traditional because you get more liver for your bird. However duck liver is becoming more and more popular, though that's mainly in south west France. I think that Alsace still fattens more geese than ducks, but I'd not want to be quoted on that.

Fois no. Foie yes.

So either fattened duck or goose liver or else foie gras de canard and foie gras d'oie. But I beg you, not duck foir or goose fois! (Just me being a pedant) If you want however, you could call it Libamaj (which is hungarian for fattened goose liver) which is where quite a lot of foie gras d'oie is actually fattened.

To be pedantic, it is the oie that gets fattened, not the foie ;-)

Cheers Ian, just kidding...

Ma certo, siamo un grupo internazionale!

M.

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