[1 - 1] one of my favorite questions to ask in
[1 - 3] the kitchen is does that really make a
[3 - 5] difference I guess I'm a natural skeptic
[5 - 6] and so I question the use of ingredients
[6 - 8] and techniques all the time it's a
[8 - 10] potentially annoying habit of mine that
[10 - 12] I promise does have some use I swear it
[12 - 14] leads to testing things in the test
[14 - 16] kitchen and new discoveries today's
[16 - 18] annoying skeptical question is does
[18 - 20] adding vodka to tomato sauce really make
[26 - 26] difference pasta aliv vodka has always
[26 - 28] had an air of mystery swirling around it
[28 - 29] when I saw it on menus as a kid it
[29 - 32] seemed almost edgy to me boozy pasta I
[32 - 33] think it still holds a lot of mystery
[33 - 36] for starters where did it even come from
[36 - 37] that's one question I can answer pretty
[37 - 40] quickly because well we don't really
[40 - 42] know pasta alka's definitive origin
[42 - 44] story has been lost to time depending on
[44 - 46] which account you believe the dish might
[46 - 47] be a restaurant Innovation out of
[47 - 49] bolognia or Rome an Italian American
[49 - 51] invention or the result of a marketing
[51 - 53] campaign for vodka but we do know that
[53 - 55] the concept of adding vodka to tomato
[55 - 58] sauce has existed for at least 50 years
[58 - 60] as it's mentioned in the 1974 C book
[60 - 62] Labon Labon was written by the Italian
[62 - 65] comedic actor Ugo tanyi and it's part
[65 - 67] recipes part Memoir in the book tonyi
[67 - 70] has a recipe for P alata that is similar
[70 - 72] to the vodka sauce we know today but
[72 - 74] with a little more kick in his recipe he
[74 - 77] spikes the tomato sauce with a glass of
[77 - 79] potent chili infused vodka regardless of
[79 - 81] how it came to be we know definitively
[81 - 84] that it exists now but should it there
[84 - 85] are vodka saw Skeptics who say that the
[86 - 87] spirit adds little more than Edge and
[87 - 89] Intrigue to the Dish's name others swear
[89 - 91] it and enhances the sau's creaminess the
[91 - 92] only way to sort it out is of course
[93 - 95] with blind side-by-side taste tests when
[95 - 96] we did that we found out the Vodka
[96 - 98] certainly has an impact but only on
[98 - 100] Flavor it acted like a volume knob
[100 - 102] intensifying the Dish's fuess savoriness
[102 - 104] and complexity and it bumped up the
[104 - 106] Dish's Aroma the best way to describe it
[106 - 108] was that it made the dish taste like a
[108 - 110] better version of itself High Fidelity
[110 - 112] versus lowf to understand why the
[112 - 113] alcohol and bodka is so good at amping
[113 - 116] up flavor we got to talk about polarity
[116 - 118] and solubility in the kitchen we are
[118 - 119] usually dissolving things into some form
[119 - 121] of either water or fat water molecules
[121 - 124] are polar and polar solvents dissolve
[124 - 125] polar compounds we know that water is
[125 - 127] great A dissolving salt and sugar which
[127 - 129] are both polar but most flavor compounds
[129 - 131] are non-polar so water doesn't do a
[131 - 133] great job at dissolving them fat
[133 - 134] molecules on the other hand are
[134 - 136] non-polar so they have a Feld day with
[136 - 138] flavor compounds you've seen this in
[138 - 139] your kitchen you use water to make a
[140 - 141] salty brine but you use oil when you
[142 - 143] want to infuse it with chilies and
[143 - 145] garlic to make chili oil so that's nice
[145 - 147] easy clean and divided we have polar and
[147 - 150] non-polar but then we make it mess by
[150 - 152] adding alcohol which is both polar and
[152 - 154] non-polar think of it like your friends
[154 - 156] you've got that one friend who is great
[156 - 158] at Sports and another who is a math whz
[158 - 160] makes sense everyone has strengths and
[160 - 162] weaknesses but wait you've also got that
[162 - 164] annoyingly talented friend who's somehow
[164 - 166] great at both Sports and math alcohol is
[166 - 168] that annoying friend but it's actually
[168 - 170] not annoying it's amazing it means that
[170 - 172] alcohol can dissolve all of the flavor
[172 - 174] compounds with its non-polar properties
[174 - 176] and then disperse it into water with its
[176 - 177] polar properties check out this
[177 - 179] experiment I've steeped equal weights of
[179 - 182] a seeds in equal amounts of oil vodka
[182 - 184] and water for 15 minutes in general
[184 - 186] color is a great indicator of flavor so
[186 - 188] here you can taste with your eyes you
[188 - 189] can see that the water is the least
[189 - 191] colorful because it struggles to
[191 - 193] dissolve the seeds non-polar flavor
[193 - 195] compounds both the oil and the alcohol
[195 - 197] however took a lot of the seeds color
[197 - 198] and flavor the same science applies to
[199 - 200] alcohol-based applications like vanilla
[200 - 202] extract you steep the vanilla beans in
[202 - 205] alcohol like bodka or Rum because the
[205 - 207] alcohol is a powerful solvent that draws
[207 - 208] the flavor out of the beans I love this
[208 - 210] example because vanilla extract is
[210 - 212] actually super easy to make and doing it
[212 - 213] yourself can save you about a dollar per
[214 - 215] ounce compared to commercial extracts
[215 - 217] I've dropped a link below to our recipe
[217 - 220] to make your own makes a great gift for
[220 - 222] Bakers but I'm not done bragging about
[222 - 224] alcohol it has another unique
[224 - 226] characteristic it is extremely volatile
[226 - 228] volatility just means how easily Aroma
[228 - 230] compounds can escape into the air you
[230 - 232] know this one from experience too open a
[232 - 233] bottle of liquor give it a Sniff and the
[233 - 236] aroma shoots into your nose no fat or
[236 - 237] watery liquid even comes close to that
[237 - 239] level of volatility okay let's put all
[240 - 241] this together alcohol is exceptionally
[241 - 243] good at dissolving flavor compounds in
[243 - 245] Foods so it can unlock the flavor of
[245 - 247] ingredients in a dish then effortlessly
[247 - 249] disperse them throughout the watery
[249 - 251] element of the dish before finally
[251 - 253] sending them up into our nasal passages
[253 - 254] so we can smell and taste them fully
[255 - 256] that's pretty magical if you ask me okay
[256 - 258] let's apply all of this to Pasta alv
[258 - 260] vodka the flavored compounds in tomatoes
[260 - 262] Panetta and garlic are primarily fat
[262 - 264] soluble in a sauce without vodka these
[264 - 266] compounds only really dissolve in the
[266 - 267] fat and the cream the fat does a decent
[268 - 269] job of dispersing those flavors but the
[269 - 271] the sauce is less flavorful and aromatic
[272 - 273] than it could be let's go to the kitchen
[273 - 276] I'm going to make a pot of ratoni alav
[276 - 277] vodka what's that you say it's usually
[277 - 280] pen Al vodka yes you are correct but
[280 - 282] let's be honest here rotoni is an
[282 - 284] infinitely better pasta shape than pen I
[284 - 286] mean first is the width rotoni is wider
[286 - 287] and so it's easier for the sauce to make
[287 - 289] its way into the center of the noodle
[289 - 290] and for some reason the straight cut
[290 - 292] ends are just much more satisfying to me
[293 - 294] if you agree or disagree I need to hear
[294 - 296] from you in the comments I'll get the
[296 - 297] pasta water going because the sauce
[297 - 299] comes together pretty quickly then I'll
[299 - 301] start the sauce by sautéing some chopped
[301 - 303] Panetta and red pepper flakes in butter
[303 - 305] I'm looking for nice golden little
[305 - 307] Panetta nuggets and some flavorful Brown
[307 - 309] Fawn to form on the bottom of the pot
[309 - 310] then I'll stir in some finely minced
[310 - 312] garlic and tomato paste and let that
[312 - 314] Sizzle for about 30 seconds now I'm
[314 - 316] going to pull the pot off the heat turn
[316 - 318] off the heat and add 7 tablespoons of
[318 - 320] vodka I do this off the heat because
[320 - 322] alcohol is extremely flammable and I
[322 - 324] don't want Vapors to catch fire adding
[324 - 325] the Vodka at this point will allow it to
[325 - 327] liberate all of those alcohol soluble
[328 - 329] compounds we talked about which will
[329 - 331] dial up the flavors of the sauce now we
[331 - 333] Slide the pot back on the burner and
[333 - 334] scrape the bottom to loosen up any
[334 - 337] flavorful fond next in goes Pata heavy
[337 - 339] cream salt and pepper now if you haven't
[339 - 341] worked with pada it's great stuff it's
[341 - 344] Italy's uncooked strained tomato puree
[344 - 345] it's exactly what you want when you're
[345 - 347] going for bright tomato flavor and a
[347 - 349] silky smooth texture it's usually sold
[349 - 351] in jars and most supermarkets carry it
[351 - 353] along with other tomato products let's
[353 - 354] bring the pot up to a simmer and adjust
[354 - 356] the heat so it's just gently bubbling
[356 - 358] away I'm going to let that go for about
[358 - 360] 10 minutes so the flavors melted and
[360 - 361] then I'll just cut the heat and cover
[361 - 363] the pot to keep it warm while I cook the
[363 - 365] pasta now it's time to drain the pasta
[365 - 366] and before I do that I'm going to
[366 - 369] reserve a cup of pasta cooking water
[369 - 370] that I'm going to use to adjust the
[370 - 372] consistency of the sauce okay now I'm
[372 - 374] adding a final tablespoon of vodka much
[374 - 376] of the alcohol from the first batch
[376 - 378] Cooks off after having done its work of
[378 - 380] melding all those wonderful flavors this
[380 - 382] final addition of uncooked vodka adds a
[383 - 384] subtle bite but most importantly helps
[384 - 386] all of those Aromas Break Free into the
[386 - 388] air so we can smell and taste them
[388 - 390] finally we add our pasta some pasta
[391 - 393] water and stir stir stir to combine and
[393 - 395] emulsify and now my friends it is time
[395 - 399] to eat oh man this is so good and it's
[399 - 401] really Lush from that mix of heavy cream
[401 - 402] butter and the rendered fat from The
[402 - 405] Panetta and there is serious depth to
[405 - 407] the savoriness that goes Way Beyond the
[407 - 408] ingredients that I added to the pot
[408 - 410] what's that expression greater than the
[410 - 413] sum of its parts yeah this is definitely
[413 - 415] without a doubt how to eat pasta aliv