Most times no, but it’s actually possible that food cooked with alcohol will still retain a decent amount of the alcohol that was added. It is entirely untrue that cooking burns off alcohol that’s added to the dish when cooking. Sorry, but I’m not sorry to be a myth buster

“According to USDA data, alcohol that is baked as part of a dish for 15 minutes will retain 40-per cent of its alcohol content. After one hour of cooking, 25-percent will remain.”

In essence, you’d have to be doing some serious cooking for more than 90 minutes at high heat for the alcohol to completely evaporate and disappear from the dish. In any case, why do people cook with alcohol anyway if they actually intend for some of it to evaporate? Seems like a long way to go instead of just pouring yourself a drink and sipping it slowly. 

Unlike those people who soak jelly babies in vodka, when the pros cook with alcohol it’s definitely not for a high but rather for the intense flavour it helps give to what is being cooked. It’s usually done as a marinade or infused into sauces. 

With steaks, whiskey in the marinade will really help deepen the flavour profile. Additionally, the whiskey on the surface will caramelize as it’s cooked so you end up with the savoury flavours of the meat but also the best of both worlds because it’ll be a little bit sweet.

Another way to infuse alcohol with your food is by adding it directly into what you’re cooking. I got to experience this up close and centre with Chef Fregz and this marvellous Passion Fruit Souffle which he created. 

I’d be the first to admit that I don’t drink whiskey neat. I see people do it in movies and I’m always wondering why? why? and why? It took a leap of faith when Fregz and Berg were trying it completely expecting to be disappointed but I was rather impressed. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not about to start drinking whiskey straight like a middle-aged white man in his study wondering why his children are hell-bent on disgracing him on the cover of tabloids.

I was only supposed to taste because I’m lactose intolerant, however,  I ended up eating an entire ramekin of the souffle and drank a glass of scotch to boot. Not to make this all about the whiskey though, my absolute favourite things in the souffle were the three crispy textures from the browned top, crumble, and then passion fruit. 

100% delicious, 10/10 I highly recommend.  

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