John Ok wrote:
I'm going to be making a cheesecake with stawberyy topping that calls for brandy. I don't drink so I was wondering if you had any recommendations on a good cooking brandy that won't cost a fortune.
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Dear John:
First of all, kudos on making a cheesecake from scratch! That's going to win you big points with all the ladies (ladies, are you reading? He's smart and nice, too.)
Secondly, a quick lesson about brandy vs. Cognac. Brandy is a fortified wine, meaning it's made from fruits (not always grape!) but distilled way beyond what a normal bottle of wine experiences. That's why it's brown (like apple juice) instead of purple (like red wine). Calvados is Spanish apple brandy; grappa is Italian grape brandy; Armagnac and Cognac are from France, with Cognac being the most famous brandy in the world. I know, too much information.
VS, VSP, VSOP, and XO denote how long the brandy has been aged--hence the hefty price tag on XO products. If you cook with that brandy fans will hunt you down and skin you.
Having babbled on and on, I have to admit I don't drink actually drink brandy, so I'm not going to pretend like I'm being a huge help. I have Courvoissier VSOP, which would be a very nice French champagne (grape) Cognac. But I only own it because I ordered a cheaper bottle and the safeway.com delivery man brought me the expensive bottle by mistake. I wish things like that would happen more often. You could certainly go with a cheaper Couvoissier, or something right in the $15-20 range. Remember, you can go to liquor store and buy a tiny bottle, allowing you to get something nicer. Or go to Beverages & More and spend $2 on the tiny airline-sized bottles.
Personally, for cheesecake, I'd go with Grand Marnier instead of a brandy. Grand Marnier is brandy-like in flavor, but has an orange and sugar as well. It tastes great baked into the cheesecake, and is wonderful for almost any fruit sauce. It would go amazingly well with what you've got planned. If you bake a lot, get Grand Marnier because it's delicious in cakes, cookies, frozen treats, custards, etc. If you're hoping to cook main courses with brandy, get some Courvoissier. Meat simmering in brandy smells like Heaven. My well-used bottle of each is posted so you know what to look for. And you can always go poke around this link to find out more. It's the same as the "brandy" link above.
I know there are at least one or two people who read this site and cook with brandy. Anyone?
4 comments:
Wungist suggests Christian Brothers, which is really really cheap. He uses it for tiramisu. He says anything with sugar will overpower the bleh-ness of the brandy.
thanks for the tips. The recipe also calls for orange and lemon zest so grand marnier will probably blend in great. I'll ask the guy at marketplace liquors (it's a really big wine and liquor shop in the area) about the christian brothers though.
hey pei
this one made me giggle.
stick to the kitchen kvetch, sister! the brandy you described has yet to be invented, though a kabucha queen might just pull it off.
wine is the basic ingredient in both brandy and port, but here's how they differ...
to make brandy, you literally cook wine in a still, and the alcohol (and the fragrant organic compounds it carries) evaporates first. as it distills, you collect that portion, which is very high in alcohol and (ideally) flavor. it is actually clear, and is poetically called eau de vie.
the eau de vie is aged in oak barrels, which lend color, smoothness, and additional flavors. it also allows some of the alcohol to evaporate through the wood, lowering the proof to more approachable levels.
all 'hard' liquors are made this way, starting with fermented pears, potatoes, apples, berries, or grain. shortcuts are taken (like diluting the eau de vie with water) but the process is the same.
actually, they say the dutch called it burnt wine, (brandewijn), brandywine, and finally brandy. but the technique is credited to the golden age of islam and her alchemists.
to me, it is just fun with microbiology and p-chem.
and cognac is just a little town near bordeaux where they take their brandy very seriously.
in contrast, fortified wine is made by adding brandy to wine before all the sugar in the grape juice has fermented into alcohol. the high alcohol kills the yeast, leaving a high sugar, high alcohol, more stable wine.
finally, i doubt grand marnier is an orange brandy (made from fermented orange juice) but rather a liquer of sweetened neutral brandy infused with orange peels or whatnot.
all that said, i'd agree that a liquer would be better with cheesecake cuz it would add fruit, and a hard liquor might come across as bitter.
whew.
ed
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