In college, a friend and I cooked up a big pan of chicken and veggies with a red wine that turned out to be one step shy of vinegar. I knew that vinegar was acidic, so what did I have that was alkaline to rebalance the dish? I added a good dose of baking soda -- without testing the idea in a glass of the wine first. Well, the whole thing fizzed up something wonderful, and left a residue of black gritty carbon particles behind. Ruined several night's worth of dinner!