Can You Get Drunk From Food Cooked With Alcohol In It? (2024)

I love cooking with alcohol. Whether it’s pouring a quarter-bottle of sh*t red into a pasta sauce or mixing leftover bubbles into pancake batter (a hack that will forever change your brunch game, you’re welcome), there isn’t a single recipe I haven’t tried to booze up over the years. Subjectively, it always makes a recipe better; more complex, more intense. Of course, that could be the alcohol talking.

The breathalyser with the remains of my olives. Photo courtesy of author

Alcoholic olives

After a dry lunch in every sense of the word, I’m at a measly 0.00 percent BAC (AKA blood alcohol level, or the percent of alcohol in my bloodstream). You’re considered legally drunk at 0.08 percent.First off, a few Olives Et Al olives, which are preserved in a 40 percent ABV lemon-infused gin. I avoid drinking the liquid, but manage to spill enough on myself to smell like a dirty martini –would not recommend. I eat two, then stop. They’re pretty strong. I’ll breathalyse after 20 minutes, which is roughly how long alcohol takes to start metabolising, and roughly how long it will take me to soap the gin out of my trousers.

The prawn stew. Photo courtesy of author

Scallops in champagne and prawn stew in Chardonnay

Thankfully, I’ve just arrived at Cavo, one of London’s newest and fanciest restaurants, to eat as many booze-filled dishes as possible. First up, pan-fried scallops with a champagne butter and chilli. The waitress tries to clear the plate before I have the chance to drink the sauce from the bowl like an animal. No chance.After I slurp it down, I test myself: 0.00 BAC.No luck here. I’m on to the next dish, a delightful red prawn and bean stew made with Chardonnay. There’s enough sauce here to justify a good amount of wine used in the cooking process, but I still come up as 0.00 BAC after I wolf it down.Reading: 0.00 BAC both times

The lamb chops. Photo courtesy of author

Lamb and Chianti

Next up, a 28-day aged rack of Lazio Abbachio Romano Lamb prepared with Chianti. A few bites in, I remember I don’t actually like lamb. Why did I order this? I give it another plate lick for good measure anyway, but I’m still registering a measly 0.00 BACon my breathalyser.As all else has failed, I pull my back-up plan from my bag: Smith & Sinclair’s mad little vegan co*cktail gummies, boasting a 5 percent ABV per gummy. To my delight, the Whisky Sour gummy actually tastes like whisky. Surely, this has to w—

0.00 BAC: no dice. Photo courtesy of author

0.00 BAC. Sigh. With nothing to lose, I order a co*cktail. Might as well give this co*cky little breathalyser a shock. Victory: One co*cktail and I’m well over the limit at 0.10 BAC. So over the limit, in fact, I forget to take a proper photo of my reading. In conclusion, I’ve learned that while the science around alcohol molecules remaining in food is indisputable, no one’s using enough of it to get you drunk on food. That, and I’m a lightweight–even on olives.