I have to learn how to master the art of the short post. It takes so much out of me to write a restaurant review. Plus, work has been like a really bad episode of Jeopardy as of late, so I've been ignoring my beloved food blog. In order to bridge the gap between bearing my soul and doing nothing, I'm inspired to give quick culinary school tips to my loyal readers.
Over the weekend I hosted a Recession Party for some co-workers. My good friend from North Carolina brought her 8 year-old daughter to enjoy my renditions of pasta and Guitar Hero. She told me that she wanted to be a chef (and a dancer, actress, singer and several other things I can't recall). So, I did what any chef would do... I put her short self to work. And she rocked it! She happily made garlic bread, assisted in the creation of Bolgnese sauce and even added her flair to an otherwise uninspired salad. I was quite impressed with the passion of this young'n.
After sauteing onions, I added a dallop of tomato paste to the pan to caramelize. I asked my young culinary padawan if she knew what caramelized meant. She didn't. I proceeded to explain how it is the browning of the sugars in certain foods. But when I went into detail about the temperatures necessary, I drew a blank. Had this been any time during school, I could have rattled it off no problem. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
Caramelization is the browning of surface sugars (glucose and sucrose) when heat is applied. You've seen this time and time again in sugar turning to caramel, onions cooking down to a lovely chocolate brown and a perfectly seared rib eye. It occurs between 310 and roughly 338 degrees. This can only happen in a pan that is pretty much devoid of water, mainly because water boils at 212 degrees and hinders reaching the necessary 310 degrees. Starch granules that are made of glucose molecules can also caramelize. To do it right, don't burn! That just tastes like crap and makes whatever you add the burnt item to taste like crap as well.
There you go. I hope you enjoyed your first lesson. EXTRA CREDIT kudos to anyone who can tell me what reaction caramelization is also called. Plus, if you've got any caramelization stories, please do tell in the comments. I've got several caramel-making burn stories for ya!
Heyyy!I didn't even see this post! Asia L-O-V-E-D cooking with you and left very inspired, even bragging for weeks in our kitchen about how she helped in your kitchen. We had a great time! Thanks so much for opening your home to us in every way. You rock, even literally.
Yah..Guitar Hero didn't work for me. What is that name you give people who can do that really good?
Posted by: Katy | March 22, 2009 at 08:08 PM
You're the man! It's also called the Maillard Reaction.
Posted by: Robin | March 22, 2009 at 07:32 PM
Pyrolysis? Non-enzymatic browning? Thanks Wikipedia...hehe
Posted by: Pat | February 25, 2009 at 09:36 AM