Cooking with Whisky
I love to cook
So that is something I like to combine with the stuff I like to drink. Ergo: Whisky.
On this page I'll share some recipes, my culinaire adventures (or failures) and try to give some advise on pairing whisky with most of my recipes.
Spoiler: I'm a big fan of the saying: cook with what you're drinking.
So a lot of pairing will be the whisky used in the recipe.
Scroll down for the recipes.
Whisky as ingredient
Whisky is a great ingredient for cooking. You can use it in a sauce, use it for baking and use it for your main course if you want to. There is, however, a slight warning from my side. Whisky (Or whiskey, or bourbon) is a great product for cooking due to its flavors. And that, at the same time, can make it a difficult product to cook with. Depending on how and what you are preparing, when heating, the alcohol might evaporate and leave different flavors than you might expect. I tend to use whiskies that have one very dominant aroma, like oak or vanilla or honey. Whiskies with a more difficult flavor profile tend to lose a lot and just mess up your recipe. Some experimenting might be needed to get the right way of selecting the whisky.
If you are cooking with whisky, try to add the whisky as one of the last items to add. This reduces the chance of overcooking or boiling out the whisky you use.
Pairing whisky
Pairing whisky with a meal is fun, but can be difficult if you don't think about it. I made a lot of mismatches when pairing whisky with food. One mistake I made was matching flavors. For example: I took a very smokey Islay whisky and paired it with smoked beef. Why? They're both smokey right? It did not match at all.
If you pair any drink with food, there are two ways of matching then: Using complementary flavors or contrasting ones. Both ways add flavor to the mix instead of adding more of the same.
Don't use whisky regions, but use the whisky flavor profile when pairing. So lucky for you, taste the whisky first!
Heavy peated whisky goes great with oysters, duck or grilled chicken. Sweeter whisky with hints of fresh apples, honey and vanilla go great with roasted or smokes pork or beef. If you go for a spicy meal, go for a sweet whisky. For a sweet dessert, go for a whisky with hints of nuts, cinnamon and other spices. It will match great with the sweet tones in the dessert.
