Does Vodka actually make Pasta taste better?

Does vodka actually make pasta taste better? Is there an ideal ratio of vodka to pasta sauce? Is vodka even the best-tasting liquor for pasta alla vodka? These are all questions I set out to answer in today's video. Hope you enjoy 🤝

📃 RECIPE Link: None

📚 Videos & Sources mentioned:

USEFUL KITCHEN GEAR

⏱ 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

MISC. DETAILS
Music: Provided by Epidemic Sound
Filmed on: Sony a6600 & Sony A7C
Voice recorded on Shure MV7
Edited in: Premiere Pro

Affiliate Disclosure:

[Maplecook]

I find that DRINKING alcohol first, and THEN eating anything, makes it taste WONDERFUL!

[punkska]

My favorite origin story for the sauce is that it was misheard, originally called alla vacca. Vacca translates to cow, referring to the heavy cream and butter you add to a simple tomato sauce. Italy isn't really known for it's vodka industry after all.

[whateverppl]

0:04 if the answer is no, you didnt add enough vodka

[bennyp_thechemist]

I'm a physical chemist. You did a great job on your explanation of the science of water-ethanol solutions. For anyone who is curious about some real nitty gritty: ethanol and water form what's called an azeotrope at around 91-96% abv. This means at these concentrations the boiling point of the solution is lower than the individual boiling point of either of its components individually. If you are interested in evaporation in general there are two models that are pretty interesting. They are Henry's Law and Raoult's law. Hope this sparks some curiosity!

[zachcake]

I'd love to see a deep dive into olive oil, it's insane how cheap vs expensive you can go

[animeditor]

Ethan - this new explainer format that you’re doing (like you did for vanilla and Parmesan Reggiano) is everything I’ve ever wanted. I would watch a whole channel of just THAT. Thank you for the efforts!

[anonymoose]

Gin is basically just vodka with juniper berries and sometimes other stuff added to it. I love it for vodka recipes, especially vodka pasta. Also, the longer you cook it for, the more alcohol you can add without it being bitter. I add quite a bit into the sauce and cook it very slowly for an hour or more before adding the cream

[oxylepy]

Throat mics should be considered a warcrime on people watching food videos

[KenHarlan]

I really enjoy the blind taste test videos to try and compare the flavors with out the influence of reading a label. Super interesting to see you piece together your impressions and often bring them in line accurately.

[ThanksALott]

In Germany a similar sauce is often used in greek restaurants. It is made with Metaxa, a greek brandy, tomatos, butter, cream and often bell peppers and/or champignons. The brandy adds a very nice taste to the sauce.

[urielchami]

Very interesting. I think this would NOT be the case for myself. My hypothesis is that San Marzano tomatoes were to blame for the lack of significant change on the sauce taste. I live in Argentina, we grow tomatoes here, and imports are scarce and expensive so I always make tomato sauce with home grown tomates. They are WAY more watery and acidic, so they require a different treatment, I go low and slow until they start to have that sweetness that we all know and love (no sugar nor baking soda btw, that's quite common here but I don't do that). In my experience vodka was an ABSOLUTE GAME CHANGER. Like.. head and shoulders ahead from my regular sauce, particularly the sweetness that it provides. I think for me it's about reason #2. Cooking alcohol to make alcohol molecules bound with something on my tomatoes to make them sweeter, which your San Marzano sauce didn't need.
Just a food for thought after a thought for food. I'll definitely execute the experiment at home to really test it. Cheers and great content, thank you.

[christianeherzog]

I'm using Sake in nearly every cooked dish. I learned this in Japanese recipes that very often use Sake, Soy sauce and Mirin. This also works in other dishes like italian recipes and elevates any flavor. Sake itself has no unpleasant taste of its own and the alcohol content should be minimal due to boiling.

[bdellovibrioo]

"Wine is primarily flavored with grapes." is a sentence that will forever haunt me.

[David_Spector]

Ethan, as a biochemist this video really hit home with me. Anytime you namedrop a taste receptor like that I'm in heaven!

[Potentacidpanda]

This has to be my favorite cooking / science related Youtube channel. You do such an amazing job at making science fun and practical while still extrapolating enough data to make our brains work a little. Bravo man really I aspire to incorporate this type of content into my normal day to day life, thanks again!

[mounttim]

I had vodka pasta at a restaurant with my wife and I thought it was just okay. We both agreed that gin would probably be better due to the flavors. Great to see that you thought gin was the better option too.

[value]

I’ve always been skeptical of vodka pasta but since I don’t keep vodka at home never tried it, but often make “vodka style” sauce with no booze. Glad to see I wasn’t missing much if anything!

[angelcalderon]

Really love the channels pivot to more food sciencey content, especially appreciate the practicality of your experiments. this type of content is not being made elsewhere and is genuinely helpful for home cooks

[notenoughpaper]

One thing to add, as the amount of ethanol evaporated doesnt just depend on the amount of ethanol added prior to cooking, you might actually end up with similar alcohol concentrations despite starting with different amounts - if the cooking time is long enough.

[hiriasbloodweaver]

10:10 I usually add the vodka before the cream, which means that depending on the quantity and heat, it would need up to 15-20 minutes until the consistency is right, and fall rather under the first category.
I do it like this, since the theory I heard is that the alcohol washes out flavor components from the tomatoes that otherwise can't be tasted, so obviously this can only happen before blending, and it has to be done with whole tomatoes or tomato chunks, not blended sauce.
Also, since I cook it that long and usually cook a whole pot, even adding like 100ml of Vodka doesn't make the final sauce noticeably bitter at all.
It is a heavy hitting dish that goes strong on flavors, so I would recommend using a lot of pepper, cream and cheese.