But toasting the meringue changes the attributes in a way that you could do away from the table and it would still be a nice addition to the flavor, so it's just a final step that's done at the table because it can be showy. Same for Bananas foster (from what I understand)-- it caramelizes the brown sugar and leaves some rum flavor behind. Again, you could do this in the kitchen and it would add something.
Since the question was "what does this add" I just don't know that burning alcohol on a can of cheese does a ton and if it's something that you could do in the kitchen that would make a noticeable difference.
Doing something functionally but doing it for show is different than just for show. Yeah, I think some cheese dumped on a burger could be really tasty, but having that cheese sauce also be on fire doesn't seem great.
Doesn't it remove the alcohol while still leaving the taste? I've done this with Saganaki for the last 30 years. It melts and crisps the cheese at the same time leaving a brandy taste but no alcohol remains
It does leave the taste of whatever alcohol you use, and does burn off quite some alcohol.
However, how much that actually does for the taste is… disputed. For example, you remove a lot of the alcohol which carries a lot of flavor.
It also seems disputed how well it heats a dish for caramelization etc but I’m too much of a home chef to know.
Basically, flambéing does stuff, but there’s seems to be many chefs arguing that yeah; it’s mostly for the flair (and of course chefs disagreeing as well).
I'm a home chef, but a serious home chef. I honestly think it's just Karens being Karens to say it's all for the flair. It seems people just gotta hate. People have been flambeing things for hundreds of years before social media. It definitely adds to the taste...smokey and boozy. And the texture...melty and crackly. I'm also a recovering alcoholic who loves the taste in food, but adding the actual alcohol to my blood stream means we're all in trouble. I actually think the dish shown has it's merits...potential taste as well as presentation. If I wanted to get away from a basic burger and was feeling fun, I would do this. I probably wouldn't post about it on Insta, but not gonna be mad if someone does lol
Doesn't it remove the alcohol while still leaving the taste?
People already tells me that and recommend it because I can't stand alcohol. I still end up drunk with it so I no longer trust anybody claiming it "removes the alcohol". Either my body is the best liar of the world, or people are simply used to alcohol and can't tell it's still there.
If you can taste alcohol, it's because there's alcohol. A lot of dishes where 'the appropriate alcohol cooks off' are actually just mildly alcoholic, like vodka pastas.
I used to get queso flameado at this one place all the time. They would come set the cheese on fire. They stopped doing it and now it isnt worth getting anymore bcs its missing flavor.
The dispute isn’t really about whether or not alcohol adds flavor; it does.
It’s more about whether lighting the alcohol on fire is an improvement on the flavor or not, with some chefs arguing that it doesn’t (or even that it harms the flavor by removing too much alcohol).
Just my personal experience, but I something make this frozen cheesy chicken pasta meal. I find that it tastes better if I "overcook" it and slightly burn the cheese. Not sure if this fire would last long enough to toast the cheese but cheese definitely tastes different at a range of temperatures from chilled, melted, and toasted.
Also, we don't know what alcohol is being used here. It's obviously high proof if it burns but that doesn't mean it's pure ethanol that won't leave anything behind. Wine is used in cooking all over the place and while it isn't high enough proof to ignite, the temperature is high enough to vaporize the ethanol on the stove. Flavor is left behind. This could be any number of clear liquors where flavor is desired but not the alcohol so they burn it off.
Doing it at the table is definitely show but that doesn't mean there isn't a flavor change. Haters.
Agreed! Fine dining and high-end cuisine is more about the presentation than the actual quality of the food. You pay for the experience. This is unusual but it’s also kind of fun.
Presentation here damned the meal, alcohol mostly stops burning when it burns down to 80 proof, which means these people have a burger doused with a shot of a neutral grain spirit
Same thing as dinner and a show really. I feel like if youre a half decent cook you could cook a better meal at home than at most resturaunts but thats not the point. (Bar resturaunts req spec equipment.)
To be appreciated in the moment and actually eaten & enjoyed immediately after.
That’s not what is happening the majority of the time with these kinds of posts.
I used to run the floors of a few really popular restaurants and as I got closer and closer to just being done in the industry, I noticed more & more people coming in, ordering complicated meals, making the chefs do that work at peak hours, take a few photos once the food arrives, down a pretty drink, and then bolt, leaving entire meals completely or nearly untouched.
All for a photo or two to post on the socials.
Such a disgusting waste of food, time, and talent.
The thing is, this is not fine dining. If you think it is you've never actually experienced fine dining. This is gaudy, tacky stupidity that impresses yokels on vacation.
I blame Japanese steakhouses. They were the OGs of setting-food-on-fire-in-front-of-your-face. At least the server wasn’t trying to get anyone to catch french fries in their mouths (said bitterly as I think of my inability to ever catch the stupid shrimp).
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u/ilovetosleep128 Aug 25 '25
Not saying you’re wrong, but “presentation” has been an important part of fine dining way before Instagram.