What to use instead of dry white wine
It depends entirely on what it's doing in the dish. Here's the job, what else does it, and what to skip.
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Acid that keeps melted cheese fluid in a fondue
The wine acid ties up the calcium that would otherwise let the cheese proteins clump, so the pot stays smooth rather than turning into a rubbery ball sitting in a pool of fat.
Dry hard ciderRan out
1:1, plus 1 tsp lemon juice per cup
Apple sweetness that suits Gruyere and Emmental. Less acid than wine, which is what the lemon is making up.
Unsweetened apple juice plus lemon juiceNo alcohol
1 cup apple juice + 2 tbsp lemon juice per 1 cup wine
Melts smooth and reads noticeably sweeter. Add a good grind of pepper and more kirsch-free nutmeg to keep it savoury.
Chicken stock plus lemon juiceNo alcohol
1 cup stock + 2 tbsp lemon juice per 1 cup wine
Savoury rather than fruity, and the pot is saltier from the start, so hold off salting until the cheese is in.
Dry vermouthRan out
3/4 the volume, topped up with water
Herbal enough to notice in a pot with nothing else in it. It keeps the melt just as smooth.
What doesn't work: Milk or cream in place of the wine. Neither has any acid, so the cheese seizes into strings and weeps fat, and the rescue is lemon juice and cornstarch anyway.
Steaming liquid for mussels and clams
It boils fast, its acid keeps the shellfish liquor from tasting flat, and the alcohol lifts the shellfish aroma into the broth you mop up afterwards.
Dry hard ciderRan out
1:1
The Normandy version, rounder and sweeter. Use less cream at the end or the broth turns cloying.
Pilsner or light lagerRan out
1:1
Bitterness builds as the broth reduces, so pull it off the heat as soon as the shells open.
Stock plus white wine vinegarNo alcohol
1 cup stock + 1 tbsp white wine vinegar per 1 cup wine
Heavier and saltier from the first minute, and the mussels have to fight it. Use half stock, half water if you can.
Water plus lemon juiceNo alcohol
1 cup water + 2 tbsp lemon juice per 1 cup wine
The broth tastes of mussels, shallot and butter and nothing else. Thinner, and cleaner for it.
What doesn't work: A bottle that has been open a week, or cooking wine from the vinegar aisle. Oxidised wine tastes of wet cardboard and that comes straight through in a broth that cooks for four minutes, and cooking wine is salted heavily enough to push the mussels past edible.
Acid in a quick cream or butter pan sauce
It deglazes and then cuts the fat that follows it. Without it a cream sauce over veal or chicken tastes heavy and flat by the third bite.
Dry vermouthRan out
1:1
Herbal notes concentrate as it reduces, which suits mushrooms and chicken. Keeps for months once open.
Dry sherryRan out
Half the volume, made up with water
Nuttier and rounder. It reads as a deliberate choice with veal and mushrooms and as an odd one with fish.
Stock plus lemon juiceNo alcohol
1/2 cup stock + 1 tbsp lemon juice per 1/2 cup wine
Rounder and less sharp. Add the lemon at the end off the heat so it stays bright instead of cooking dull.
White wine vinegar plus waterNo alcohol
1 tbsp vinegar + 1/2 cup water per 1/2 cup wine
Harsher and one-dimensional. Swirl in an extra knob of cold butter at the end to round it off.
What doesn't work: Adding the wine after the cream. Acid hitting hot cream splits it into curds and fat. The wine goes in first and reduces to almost nothing, then the cream.