Fortified Wines

Fortified wines such as sherry, port or Madeira go well with a number of foods; the sweeter wines work best with fruits or desserts, whilst the drier versions are good with fish and poultry. The Sicilian wine, Marsala, is a popular ingredient in a variety of pudding recipes including the classic Italian desserts tiramisu and zabaglione. It may also be used to enrich creamy savoury sauces to serve with chicken, veal or pork, including the popular Italian dish of Chicken Marsala (not to be confused with the mildly, spicy Indian dish of chicken masala).

Dry vermouth may be used as a substitute to white wine for cooking, for example, it may be combined with single cream and lemon juice to make a sauce to accompany white fish.

The following table shows some examples of the types of food that may be cooked using sherry, port, Madeira or Marsala.