At first glance, wine doesn’t seem like a huge part of cooking. If you look beneath the surface, however, you’ll find that it has many more uses than you’d realize! The main use for red wine is an inviting addition to either meatballs or pasta sauce, but there are other things you can do with it as well. Through a process known as red wine reduction, you can make a delicious sauce that’s used as a fine drizzle for steak. If you’ve looked at our menu before, you may have seen red wine reduction sauce as a part of our braised beef short ribs. We tell you everything you need to know about red wine reduction below!
What Is Reduction?
Reduction is a process that isn’t actually specific to red wine! You can use this process with various other liquids to get different types of sauces. Reduction is the process of taking a liquid, such as red wine, and reducing it to a thicker concentration of itself by heating it. This isn’t reserved for all liquids, and there’s a big reason for that. The reduction helps yield a greater concentration of flavors throughout the sauce. The sugars carmelize as the liquid gets hotter, which makes the flavor even more powerful! This practice is beneficial for liquids like milk, cream, red wine, and other sauces.
Why Red Wine?
If you compare red wine with some of the other liquids used for reduction, you may notice that something doesn’t add up. Red wine isn’t as dessert-based as these other liquids, so what makes it worthy of inclusion here? There’s one crucial part of reduction that we’ve left out: because the flavors and sugars of each component get more powerful, the bitterness of the alcoholic flavor virtually disappears. The end result is a sweeter sauce without the kick that a regular glass of wine would bring!
Uses For Red Wine Reduction Sauce
Those who have perused Bricco’s menu in the past will have an idea of where red wine reduction sauce is best used. It is a great sauce to pair with your standard dinner meats, such as cuts of steak, ribs, or lamb. The flavors complement each other particularly well, but it’s important to choose the right type of wine as well. If it’s a red wine you would drink by itself, there’s a good chance it will do well for reduction sauce!
Red Wine Reduction at Bricco
Bricco is all about using the best techniques and methods to yield mouthwatering results. All of our authentic Italian cuisine options are infused with the same passion that they would receive overseas. We aim to bring the Italian experience right to the heart of the West, and you’ll find that you’ll get the best of it when you dine with us! Visit us in the North End today to see what makes us one of the area’s most revered restaurants!