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05-26-2002, 01:24 PM
|  | Registered User Culinary Experience: Professional Chef | | Join Date: Jul 2001
Posts: 1,567
| |  Cooking with wine corks
In another thread Saucy Cajun mentioned something about cooking with wine corks, refering to a Greek recipe.
To Anneke and Cape Chef sounded very familiar.
Would you want to talk about this?
Cape Chef said that it's more than common to cook with corks.
Any examples?
Thanks 
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"Muabet de Turko,kama de Grego i komer de Djidio", old sefardic proverb ( Three things worth in life: the gossip of the Turk , the bed of the Greek and the food of the Jew) |
05-26-2002, 01:47 PM
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Athenaues,
Although I have no direct litature in my home about cooking with corks, it is a practice that has been used for quite sometime in the mederterrian in regards to cooking octapus. as well, corks have been added to stews which are made with toughter cuts of meat to help tenderize the stew meat. perhaps my statment of useing corks in cooking is a little to much, I did mean that it is done in a number of cases, and is still practiced today, you can find cork in many octapus recipes. Also "more than you think" as I stated was meant also to people who had never heard of such a practice.
Thanks for pointing that out
cc
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Baruch ben Rueven / Chanaבראד, ילד של ריימונד והאלאן |
05-26-2002, 11:58 PM
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Sorry for insisting but I have been thinking about this.
If you use wine corks maybe the tanines that help the meat to tenderize are not of the corks but of the wine!!!
Well, I haven't heard of using corks in preparing octopus but a glass of wine is highly recommended  I mean in greek recipes we never use water to cook octopus but wine!
What do you think about that?
Oh useless to say that in stews all the greek recipes have a glass of wine!!
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"Muabet de Turko,kama de Grego i komer de Djidio", old sefardic proverb ( Three things worth in life: the gossip of the Turk , the bed of the Greek and the food of the Jew) |
05-27-2002, 01:08 AM
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Cooking octopus with corks is done.
but i'm not about challenging you Athenaues about this because I have to much respect for your knowledge. http://table.mpr.org/souptonuts/fish_octopus.html
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Baruch ben Rueven / Chanaבראד, ילד של ריימונד והאלאן
Last edited by cape chef; 05-27-2002 at 09:05 AM.
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05-27-2002, 02:04 AM
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So it's the tanines of the cork and not of the wine.
This was my question.
I see.
Thanks cc
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"Muabet de Turko,kama de Grego i komer de Djidio", old sefardic proverb ( Three things worth in life: the gossip of the Turk , the bed of the Greek and the food of the Jew)
Last edited by Athenaeus; 05-27-2002 at 07:25 AM.
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05-27-2002, 09:23 AM
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Yes Vivian. According to Lydia Bastianich, wine corks do contain tannin.
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«Money talks. Chocolate sings. Beautifully.»
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05-27-2002, 10:25 AM
|  | ChefTalk Moderator Culinary Experience: Professional Chef | | Join Date: May 2001 Location: New York, NY
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| |  Calling our chemists
Okay, so corks have tannin (well, of course -- they're from the bark of cork oak trees, after all). But what is it about tannin that produces the tenderizing effect? What's the chemical reaction (in layperson's terms, please)? It's got to be different from the reaction to the acid and alcohol in wine, no? Or is it?
This has gotten really, really fascinating! |
05-27-2002, 10:31 AM
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As I said in the other "cork" thread, in Italy a cork (an old one, not moistened with wine) is commonly added in the water where octopus is boiled to tenderize the meat and I usually do it, although I didn't know the exact reason. It's an old housewives' trick and, as far as I know, it's used exclusively for cooking octopus.
Pongi |
05-27-2002, 10:39 AM
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I'm not a chemist, but i'll take a shot at it.
Since tannins are of a phenolic compound, they have the ability to break down the protiens in the octapus, hence tenderizing it
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Baruch ben Rueven / Chanaבראד, ילד של ריימונד והאלאן |
05-27-2002, 11:33 PM
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TANNINS are an aka for TANNIC ACID. I think that it's the acid(s) that tenderize the meat. |
05-28-2002, 09:40 AM
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Thanks, Koko, I knew that, just didn't remember that I did. (Darn this headcold!)  | |
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