Ingredient
Brandy
Distilled from wine, so it carries fruit rather than grain. In cooking it is usually flamed or reduced, which burns off the alcohol and leaves a concentrated sweetness — the flame is for flavour, not theatre.
- Sourcing
- A mid-range VS cognac or a supermarket own-label brandy is the right choice for cooking. Anything you would savour neat is wasted in a pan.
- Varieties
- Cognac, Armagnac, Calvados, Grappa
- Quality cues
- For cooking, smoothness matters less than depth. Very cheap brandy can be harsh enough to survive reduction unpleasantly.
- Substitutions
- Whisky, Dark rum, Apple juice with a splash of vinegar
- Storage
- Upright in a cool cupboard, tightly capped. Spirits do not improve in the bottle but they do evaporate.
- Shelf life
- Indefinite sealed; years once opened, slowly fading