If you don’t cook, or aren’t interested in food science, you might want to give this video a pass.

Most people have heard of the sauce called pasta alla vodka. You can buy it in jars at the local supermarket! Ethan Chlebowski does a fine job analyzing the use of alcoholic beverages in his pasta sauce (recipe included.) What he considers:

1. What percentage of vodka is most desirable in the sauce? You may want to skip the part about raw vodka in the sauces. If so, skip ahead to 12:44.

2. How does alcohol affect the flavor?

3. What is the difference in flavor when other forms of alcohol are used?

Ethan does a number of experiments like this one (for example: Does it make a difference when you use a cheaper parmesan or a pre-grated parmesan in your cooking instead of Parmigiano Reggiano?)

Hope you enjoy it!

TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 Intro
1:32 How can alcohol impact the flavor of food?
2:53 Exp #1: Does vodka have to be cooked to enhance the sauce?
8:23 Debrief ➡️ How does ethanol work?
12:44 Exp #2: Is there an ideal ratio of vodka to sauce after cooking?
18:58 Debrief ➡️ Does it vodka actually make the sauce taste better?
20:54 Exp #3: Do other liquors taste better than vodka for the pasta sauce?
29:55 Conclusions + Outro