Why does food like stews, curries, sauces etc taste better when you add water and let it cook down?

Question

Doesn’t the water just go in then evaporate out again?

In: Chemistry

Answer 1

The water adjusts the food texture and distributes the sauses throughout the entire meal.
And no it doesn’t all evaporate, just small amounts, unless you increase the temp too much to boiling then it will evaporate

Answer 2

I always hear Italians talking about how their mothers/grandmothers would be cooking the meatballs in sauce all day, adding water every hour or so.