Sherry wine vs Dry white wine ... for crab or lobster?

[hae young]

hi i usually use dry white wine for making bisque such as sauvinon blac.
but i confirmed many people in here use sherry wine. why is that.? do those two really change taste of the bisque of crab or lobster?
or is it because people just get used to their long term choices? i think after boiling and simmering enough those two unique flavor quciky evaporate leaving only some subltties.

[leek]

I've used both, and you can tell a difference. Sherry gives it a fuller flavor. It's not huge, granted, but it's there. On the other hand, if you like the flavor you get from Sauv. Blanc then go ahead and use that :) (I don't use Sherry in everything, but I do for certain things - shrimp in garlic, for example, but not mussels, where I prefer Sauv. Blanc)

[hotoynoodle]

there's an acidity issue here, and with something creamy, like bisque, i prefer the depth of sherry, as opposed to the zing of an s.b.

some preparations are traditional for very good reason.

[kchurchill5]

I agree hotoynoodle. I like sherry, It is a bit sweeter to me. Not sure if that is the right description but for a bisque and even some cream sauces I enjoy sherry. I also use white if I don't have sherry but I think I can tell the difference pretty easily. Although both works, there is a difference.

Yep mussles white wine, white wine in sauces with vegetables, I love sherry with like a turkey tettrazini with mushrooms, more warmth and depth of flavor. But it is all personal tastes. For bisque, I always use sherry is I have it on hand which is most times.

One of my favorites it, fresh shrimp and scallops in a small dish (individual but you can use a big casserole dish), topped with my mix of fennel, onions, garlic mushrooms, artichokes and then a simple sauce. Flour, butter, SHERRY and a little cream. Top the seafood and top with bread crumbs and butter and bake. It is amazing and simple. Canned artichokes is fine for this.

BUT sherry not white wine for this. Big difference.

Hope you try the sherry, I think you will really enjoy it

[mrwillis74]

Yes I agree. Sherry does ad a fuller flavour and would be my preference over Dry White to deepen the flavour of the dish.

MrWillis74
http://tinyurl.com/qkwtlo

[ChefJune]

depends upon the bisque what alcohol I use. but I do prefer Fino Sherry for shrimp and lobster.

Flavor doesn't evaporate.

[todao]

Keep in mind that "Sherry" is available as a dry wine, a sweet wine and a very sweet cream variety. If someone tells you they incorporated Sherry in their recipe, have them specify which classification it falls within.

[kchurchill5]

Very true, I always use dry sherry, the only one I cook with. Good point. I never thought of it because I only cook with dry, but someone else may not now.

[todao]

Howdy once again. I got hit in the head with this sherry thing a few years ago when I grabbed a bottle of sherry (some sweet stuff that I had used previously for some desserts) and drizzled it into a baked chicken recipe I was trying. From that not very nice day forward I keep the sweet stuff at the back of the wine cupboard with a VERY distinctive label on it.

[kchurchill5]

The sweet is hard. Only used that for desert as well. I grabbed the sweet too once. That stays out of reach for the most part. WAY WAY back cabinet. Dry is the only cooking one for me. Definitely stay away from the cooking wines too. I just buy a semi inexpensive to medium price dry sherry and it lasts me a long time and works great. Buy as expensive as you want but I just get a medium priced one and for Dry Sherry and Marsala I find they are just fine.

[todao]

Ditto ....