Vodka sauce
Vodka sauce is an Italian-American cuisine sauce made from a smooth tomato sauce, vodka, typical Italian herbs, and heavy cream. It is a key ingredient in penne alla vodka.
The vodka's function is, ostensibly, to release flavors in the tomato that are normally inaccessible; using alcoholic beverages for this purpose is common in Italian cooking, although wine is usually used and vodka seldom used. The alcohol is also an emulsifier, serving to keep the sauce together, when normally the oil of the cream sauce would react with the acidic tomato sauce to separate from the water in both.
