Braised meats, hearty stews, and poached fruits are just a few of the many dishes that can benefit from a splash of red wine. But what to use if you or a loved one can't have alcohol? One clever solution might be this purple powder from The Dry Gourmet.
Reasons why someone might not want to cook with alcohol range from being in recovery to religion and allergies. (Contrary to popular belief, alcohol does not completely evaporate during cooking. Non-alcoholic wines also contain trace amounts.) This can be a challenge for those who enjoy the flavor that wine can bring to food. Ohio-based entrepreneur Benjamin Atkinson learned this first hand while trying to help out a friend:
My inspiration came from a friend. He's a physician in recovery. He loves to cook continental cuisine, but can't have alcohol in his home. He asked me to find a non-alcoholic cooking wine. I couldn't find one. So, I accepted the challenge and found somebody to make one.
Atkinson located a company that would mix wine with a little starch and put it through a low-temperature dehydration process. The result is a dry powder that retains the color, aroma, flavor, and tannins of wine. Reconstituted with water, it can be used like regular wine in cooking. Apparently it can also be used dry in baked goods.
Although Atkinson has no prior commercial food experience ("I'm just a guy who learned to cook when Mom went back to school," he says), he believes in the product and has launched a Kickstarter to raise funds. If the campaign is successful, the Dry Gourmet's first product will be a Dry Red Wine made from Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon. Atkinson says it has notes of citrus and is light-bodied compared to a Burgundy.
We're looking forward to trying it for ourselves. What do you think? Is this product something you would support and use?
• Learn more:
The Dry Gourmet at Kickstarter
The Dry Gourmet website
Related: Technique: Cooking With Wine
(Images: The Dry Gourmet)
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I would love to try it! I live in a dry home and out of respect to other inhabitants and family members, I never bring alcohol into the house, even to cook with. But I would love to be able to make some fantastic stews and braises with the wine flavor sans spirit.
Hmm. I think I would actually go for it. We aren't big wine drinkers, but I like the flavor for cooking and baking. It would be kind of nice to be able to add it in without feeling obligated to finish off the bottle.
i have no objections or limitations when it comes to alcohol, i just don't like wine. so, if i buy a bottle for cooking, the remainder usually gets thrown away. this would be the perfect solution for me!
My home is not dry, but I never seem to have wine on hand when I need it for cooking. Having this in the pantry, rather than a bottle spoiling on my counter top sounds fantastic!
Brilliant idea!
We love wine and have an abundance of wine in our house so that is not an issue... but I've always felt, "Why waste wine in your food? Why not just drink it!" So this is perfect, I don't have to feel guilty wasting wine. Even that lovely bottle of 2buckchuck. ;)
My home isn't dry but I drink very little and my husband is allergic to alcohol so I avoid cooking with it. I once made a dish that had my husband asleep before finishing the bowl. The alcohol had obviously not cooked out.
Thanks for the comments on The Dry Gourmet!
I appreciate the feedback.
Please visit and join our email list, or even back our KickStarter! Why? Because, I'll be sending out a recipe/review of our Dry Red Wine. A friend takes us step-by-step through his Coq au Vin recipe. He used our product and declared it the best Coq au Vin he's made. High praise, considering he's been refining this recipe for 40 years!
Thanks, again!
Ben
I will absolutely be trying this product. I am an alcololic in recovery and entertain recovery friends quite often. I've tried substituting everything from vinegar to extra seasoning to achieve the depth of taste in many recipes without using the required wine. I can't wait to test it out.
For those in the recovery community...or those who no someone in recovery. Here's a link to our write-up at "The Fix."
In this article you discover that our R&D guy has a sexy name.
Thank you all, for your support.
Happy cooking!
Ben
OH MY GOD. This would be an amazing way to make red wine chocolate icing. Have you ever tried smitten kitchen's red wine chocolate cake? It is delicious, but the batter is sooooo much better (thank god for pasteurized eggs). I have been trying to figure out a way to make icing with the same flavor profile, but have been struggling with how to sub in wine for other ingredients without messing up the texture. This may just be there trick..... oooooo yay.
I love this idea. We drink wine, but only have an open bottle of red on hand once in a while. I'd be thrilled to have a bag of this on hand (with a zip-top, of course).
non-alcoholic wine = grape juice
Yes. We'll provide the zip-top pouch, at no extra charge. ;)
I would definitely try it - alcoholism runs in my husband's side of the family, so he won't go near the stuff. It would be nice to show him how great wine-braised food can be!
Thanks for all the feedback!
Please signup here: http://kck.st/zrnwcl
...or here: http://www.drygourmet.com
We'll keep you updated on our launch!
Ben
I think this is an utterly genius idea, though I think you're limiting yourself in your marketing prospects by saying the product is just for people who abstain from alcohol for religious/health/recovery reasons. I think this is like Better Than Bullion for wine. You should totally market it that way "For when your bottle is too good to put in the pot."
I can think of some great uses for this but would probably stick with regular wine for risottos and meat dishes. Definitely will buy.
My marketing eyes have been opened!
Thank you, so very much, for this feedback!
Ben
http://kck.st/zrnwcl