"Richard Periut" > wrote in message
...
> 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?

Nope - There are many flavors of vodka athough the basic flavor for me is
lemon zest (very subtle).


> 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.

see above - The et cetra is where the flavor is.



> 3 I can see adding a nice splash to a sauce already made; but the
> recipes I've seen, don't call for that.

IMHO One of the advantages is you can make a tomato cream sauce with a lemon
background withoug breaking the cream.