Bob wrote:

> Richard Periut wrote:
>
>> Recently I tasted a vodka sauce recipe from a local Italian Ma & Pa
>> place. The place is very good; byob, quick service, and the best
>> Italian food in the area.
>>
>> I ordered a Penne a la Vodka as a side dish, and found it quite good.
>> However, my questions a
>>
>> 1 Vodka is pretty much tasteless, so what does it give the dish?
>
>
> The alcohol isn't tasteless. Vodka doesn't have congeners to add flavor
> like whiskies, but it certainly can be tasted.
>
>> 2 The ETOH of the vodka evaporates during cooking; and considering
>> that vodka is 40% ETOH by volume, what is left is H20 and some
>> residual unfermentable sugars, et cetera.
>
>
> Not much of the alcohol actually evaporates in the short cook time of
> most vodka sauces. Here's a pickup from
> <http://www.canoe.ca/HealthMayeMuskColumns/011009.html>
>
> There's more info on the page, but this is the crux of it.
>
> Preparation method Percent retained
>
> Alcohol added to boiling
> liquid & removed from heat 85%
>
> Alcohol flamed 75%
>
> No heat, stored overnight 70%
>
> Baked, 25 minutes, alcohol
> not stirred into mixture 45%
>
> Baked/simmered, alcohol
> stirred into mixture
> 15 minutes 40%
> 30 minutes 35%
> 1 hour 25%
> 1.5 hours 20%
> 2 hours 10%
> 2.5 hours 5%
>
> Depending on your method of cooking, expect 45 - 75% alcohol in the
> final dish.
>
> Bob
>
Interesting, I hope my muslim friends never find out about this; I had a
hard time convincing them to eat ; ) Funny that they did not feel it; or
maybe they did and never told me ; )

Rich

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Dum spiro, spero. (Cicero) As long as I breathe, I hope.