Flambé

Bananas Foster includes a flambé
Roasted quails flambéed with Cognac
Flambé is also a type of ceramic glaze.

Flambé (/flɒmˈbeɪ/, French: [flɑ̃be]; also spelled flambe) is a cooking procedure in which alcohol is added to a hot pan to create a burst of flames. The word means 'flamed' in French.[1]

Flambéing is often associated with tableside presentation of certain liqueur-drenched dishes, such as Bananas Foster or Cherries Jubilee, when the alcohol is ignited and results in a flare of blue-tinged flame. However, flambéing is also a step in making coq au vin, and other dishes and sauces, using spirits, before they are brought to the table. By partially burning off the volatile alcohol, flambéing reduces the alcoholic content of the dish while keeping the flavors of the liquor.

History

Modern flambéing became popular in the 19th century. The English Christmas pudding was served flaming in a Dickens novel of 1843: "the pudding... blazing in half of half-a-quarter of ignited brandy".[2] The most common flambé dish appears to have been sweet omelette with rum or kirsch. For example, Alexis Soyer's 1846 cookbook gives a recipe for "Omelette au Rhum": "...the moment of going to table pour three glasses of rum round and set it on fire".[3] An 1880 book mentions both rum and kirsch;[4] another recipe appears in an English cookbook of 1882: "Make a sweet omelet, and heat a tablespoonful of kirsch, by holding a light under the spoon. As soon as the spirit catches fire pour it round the omelet, and serve flaming."[5] Perhaps the most famous flambé dish, Crêpe Suzette, was supposedly invented in 1895 as an accident.[6]

Procedure

Flambéing in a sauté pan

Rum, cognac, or other flavorful liquors that are about 40% alcohol (80 USA proof) are considered ideal for flambé.[7] Cinnamon is sometimes added not only for flavor but for show as the powder ignites when added.[8] Wines and beers have too little alcohol and will not flambé. High-alcohol liquors such as Everclear or 151 are highly flammable and are considered too dangerous by professional cooks.

The alcoholic beverage must be heated before lighting it on fire. This is because at room temperature, the liquid is still below the flash point, and there are not enough alcoholic vapors to ignite. By heating it, the vapor pressure increases, releasing enough vapors to catch fire from the match.[9]

Effects on taste

Flambéing reduces the alcohol content of the food modestly. In one experimental model, about 25% of the alcohol was boiled off. The effects of the flames are also modest: although the temperature within the flame may be quite high (over 500 °C), the temperature at the surface of the pan is lower than that required for a Maillard browning reaction or for carmelization.[10]

Whether there is a change in flavor as result of flambéing is unclear. Some claim that because the flame is above the food and since hot gases rise, it cannot significantly affect the flavor. Indeed, experimental work shows that most people cannot tell the difference.[10] That said, in an informal taste test conducted by the Los Angeles Times of two batches of caramelized apples (one flambéed and one simmered), one tester declared the "flambéed dish was for adults, the other for kids".[8] Others, however, dispute this and quote celebrated French chefs who claim that flambéing is strictly a show-biz aspect of restaurant business and ruins food and is done to create an impressive visual presentation at a dramatic point in the preparation of a meal.[12]

Safety

For safety, it is recommended that alcohol not be added to a pan on a burner, and that the cook use a long fireplace match to ignite the pan.[7]

Flambé dishes

A Bombe Alaska at a restaurant in Singapore which has been flambéed with alcohol

Examples of popular flambé dishes include:

See also

References

  1. ↑ flambé is the past passive participle of the verb flamber, to flame
  2. ↑ Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol, the Chimes, and the Cricket on the Hearth, p. 31
  3. ↑ Alexis Soyer, The Gastronomic Regenerator, 1846, p. 477 (this link is to the 3rd edition, but the 1st edition has the same recipe)
  4. ↑ Ida Joscelyne, The Marvellous Little Housekeepers, 1880, p. 153
  5. ↑ A.G. Payne, Choice Dishes at Small Cost, London 1882, p. 235
  6. ↑ Charpentier, Henri; Sparkes, Boyden (2001-02-20) [1934]. Life à la Henri: being the memories of Henri Charpentier. Modern Library. p. 54. ISBN 978-0-375-75692-4. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
  7. 1 2 "Flambé". What's Cooking America. Retrieved 9 December 2011.
  8. 1 2 Scattergood, Amy (2005-12-28). "Let the Sparks Fly". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
  9. ↑ Karukstis, Kerry K.; Hecke, Gerald R. Van (2003-03-27). Chemistry Connections: The Chemical Basis of Everyday Phenomena. Academic Press. p. 7. ISBN 9780124001510. Retrieved 18 September 2012.
  10. 1 2 Hansen, Christine E., Misha T. Kwasniewski, and Gavin L. Sacks. "Decoupling the effects of heating and flaming on chemical and sensory changes during flambé cooking." International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science 1:2:90–95 (2012)
  11. ↑ quoted in Jimmy Savage, "Tower Ticker" column, Chicago Tribune, February 13, 1950, Part 1, p.19
  12. ↑ Hess, John L.; Karen Hess (2000). The Taste of America. Champaign, Ill.: University of Illinois Press. p. 355. ISBN 0-252-06875-0.
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