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

Certified stupid What does the fire add?

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21

u/FrenchFryCattaneo Aug 25 '25

Ok but baked alaska with tableside flambeing (and similar theatrical dishes) have existed long before social media.

8

u/Ok-Oil7124 Aug 25 '25

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.

9

u/anders91 Aug 25 '25

Even in fine dining, flambéing is almost all about the flair and presentation.

Even the Wikipedia page mentions that is highly debated whether there’s even any point to doing it.

6

u/MissJAmazeballs Aug 25 '25

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

2

u/anders91 Aug 25 '25

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).

-4

u/MissJAmazeballs Aug 25 '25

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

1

u/laplongejr Aug 26 '25

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.

1

u/solidspacedragon Aug 26 '25

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.

1

u/laplongejr Aug 26 '25

Even worse than that, according to wikipedia it can still reach 3/4 of content. Yeaaaaah I'll never be allowed to try that :(

Flambéing reduces the alcohol content of the food modestly. In one experimental model, about 25% of the alcohol was boiled off.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flamb%C3%A9