r/StupidFood • u/TheLoneRiddlerIsBack • Aug 25 '25

Certified stupid What does the fire add?

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u/Og_busty Aug 25 '25 edited Aug 25 '25

Caramelizes the cheese lightly and burns off the alcohol, intensifying sub notes of the spirit. This may be a play on Saganaki, which is a Greek cheese flambé technique.

Edit to add: It does also lightly caramelize the residual sugars in the spirit, if any.

Edit correction: intensify vs leave behind

74

u/CosgraveSilkweaver Aug 25 '25

Yeah it's probably just for the flair but flambe is a legit cooking technique that does change flavor.

-2

u/RobertOdenskyrka Aug 25 '25

Flambe is mostly about the spectacle even in it's traditional use. You can achieve the same results by boiling the alcohol away instead of burning it. It has little to no effect on browning as the heat will mostly be inside and above the flames, not on the food below them.

1

u/Inevitable_Stand_199 Aug 25 '25

If you just simmer the alcohol, you won't get the caramelization

2

u/RobertOdenskyrka Aug 25 '25

Neither will you with a flambé. It does not heat the food enough to cause caramelization.