No respectable chef would ever allow his or her kitchen to run out of wine for cooking. Wine is an integral part of French and Chinese cooking, and is also the basis for good marinating and barbeques. It finds good company in the kitchen with vinegar, fish paste, and soy sauce which all lend a tangy flavor to all sorts of dishes.

Many are tentative to using wine in cooking because of the many questions they may have. Here are a few answers to the questions that most people want to know when using wine in cooking.

1. Does wine quality affect your cooking? Whether you use normal wine or a quality wine for your cooking doesn't make a difference in the flavor of your dishes. Save your quality wine instead for sipping and use the regular wine for cooking.

2. I'm worried about whether the wine can make me or my kids tipsy It depends on how you cook your dishes. Alcohol in the wine evaporates at 172 degrees. Also you will never add too much wine to any dish, so it is very unlikely that any wine fortified dish can make you tipsy. This allows anyone - even those that do not drink wine for religious and personal reasons - to use it in their cooking.

3. I'm afraid I might put too much wine in my dishes. Will it ruin its flavor? You will have to proceed carefully when working with wine as it adds a powerful flavor to any dish. You will generally want to follow recipes until you get the hang of using wine. You will then be able to add or lessen the wine you use for a certain recipe.

Make sure you allow the wine to cook a bit before adding more to a dish. It usually takes 10 minutes for it to exhibit its full flavor. Less is more when initially experimenting with wine.

4. What is the difference between cooking wine and regular wine? Cooking wine has salt and chemicals added which make them unfit for drinking. While it is reported to be better for cooking, you will want to steer clear of using this unless the recipe specifically calls for it. This will probably be done most often in Chinese recipes.