Urgent. Cooking for recovering alcoholic. Substitute for white wine please!

[Reallyimeanreally2022]

Fright in middle of cooking a Ragu with pork and veal (it’s a blonde Ragu ie no tomato’s and uses milk)

Recipe call for 500 ml of white wine

What’s a brilliant substitute for this kind of meaty pasta sauce

Thanks so much

Chicken stock and lemon juice
Or chicken stock and white wine vinegar

Surely you'd just pick a recipe without a gallon of wine in if you know the recipe can't contain alcohol? Bizarre post. Don't put half a litre of apple juice in, unless you are aiming for apple surprise.

I think that Id just get a takeaway OP

Instead of being rude as fuck when people are taking time out of their day to help you, maybe do a different dish

If the situation is that dire, why is your starting point a recipe with that much alcohol in it? Why not choose something else? Have they requested this?

I get it - I have Muslim friends who won't eat things that have been cooked with alcohol and attended dinner parties with them where the person was aware of their preference but said: "It burns off."

Read the full thread and uhm - wow what an aggressive person the OP is.

Stop getting so triggered Op!!!

@Hen2018

I use apple juice for white wine and grape juice for red.

Sober for 23 years.

I don’t know what to say, other than - thanks for advice, sorry for the posters saying “oh it will burn off” and I can only hope and pray that my friend achieves what you have

Hope your dish and evening turn out fab, OP. If I ever need to substitue wine, I use a watered down vinegar.
Also, blonde ragu sounds fabulous and I am putting it on next week's menu, so thank you!

If it still needs a lift half a teaspoon of mustard will add some acidity. Bay or thyme will add a fragrant note. Throwing in a Parmesan rind or grating some in will up the umami.

@Reallyimeanreally2022

It’s nice that you’re going out of your way for a friend, but you have been rude and aggressive and before you say it, I do have experience with alcoholics; two uncles and a granddad. It’s a horrible condition, but doesn’t warrant the way you’ve spoken to people here.

I hope the dish goes well OP!

@Reallyimeanreally2022 the posts where you are berating people because you can't read timestamps are rude.

The ps is wonderfully passive aggressive. Its lovely to know that you can be both aggressive and passive aggressive. I could give a suggestion but you might be allergic to the ingredient, which I don't know, and you might berate me for it so I will give it a miss. Thanks.

It is absolutely not true that alcohol cooks off. Complete myth. It reduces by some percentage, maybe a little, maybe a lot, depending on how long it's cooked, at what temp, lid on or off, etc. but it's still there.

Add meat flavour oxo cubes to add flavour or Worcester sauce, but do not even try any alcohol free wine or relatives because you are going to ruin it big time.

To people saying that the alcohol will burn off during the cooking process, that’s not true.

Some of the alcohol will burn off, but you would have to cook the dish for at least 3 hours to remove all traces of alcohol.

As for the OP’s responses, while I agree they didn’t need to be so aggressive, I think it’s also worth remembering that A, the screen does not convey emotion, so what is written might not come across in the same way as when spoken, and B, cooking for someone with such very specific requirements is incredibly difficult,especially when the consequences of getting it wrong are so traumatic.

I would liken cooking for an alcoholic to cooking for someone with a severe allergy. You absolutely cannot get it wrong.

the posts where you are berating people because you can't read timestamps are rude. and you really think that berating the OP for “not being able to read time stamps” aren’t?

The OP asked for an alcohol free recipe. Posters tell her that alcohol will burn off which is categorically not the case, so even though she may have asked not to suggest that it would burn off during the cooking process in the OP, nobody should have been telling her that it would when it won’t.

Well, if the OP deserved to be attacked then so did those other posters. For posting uninformed bollocks

Tea is a good substitute for depth of flavour

@AppleBlueberryPie

This is such a bizarre thread! On the surface OP is trying to be a good host but revealing HUGE amounts of very personal information of someone who clearly didn't give consent for it to be shared on one of the largest public forums in the UK. And out of all recipes, choosing one which calls for an insane amount of wine. It sounds more like covert attention seeking and wanting validation from strangers for doing a great thing for a poor man who has no idea that the Daily Mail is probably writing up this story as we speak.

Also the dramatic wording of the original post. Having a "fright" because you suddenly realised you're cooking with wine for a recovering alcoholic. And then presumably calling his wife in a panic and then splashing their business all over the internet. Then going all defensive and attacking posters who might suggest that the alcohol content gets cooked out. That's obviously going to be a predictable response so you can choose to ignore those since there are also some very helpful suggestion for substitutes.

This. Entirely.

Also the dramatic wording of the original post. Having a "fright" because you suddenly realised you're cooking with wine for a recovering alcoholic

Isn't that just a typo or autocorrect for "right". As in "right in the middle of cooking"

Just want to say thank you so much for supporting your friend, his wife and sticking to your word there will be NO alcohol in it whatsoever, because that is SO important, burning off or not.

My Mum started detox 3 weeks ago. She got caught drink driving. I would never fucking dream of sticking alcohol in something I made for her because "it will burn off".

She literally cannot be around alcohol. Not even "alcohol free" alcohol. Nothing. ZERO alcohol. I speak from my experience with her AND with myself.

And then presumably calling his wife in a panic

Are you just making stuff up?

@Phonelightmidnight

Stop getting so triggered Op!!!

Spot the sheltered life here! Hope you NEVER have to experience having a friend or family member who has an addiction.