the.com/caramelize
the slow art of bullying sugar until it confesses to being delicious.
means To heat sugar (or the natural sugars in food) until it browns and develops a rich, nutty, complex flavor.
from From caramel plus the verb-making suffix -ize. Caramel itself reached English in the early 18th century via French caramel, from Spanish caramelo, likely from Late Latin calamellus, 'little reed' — a diminutive of calamus, 'reed' or 'cane' — possibly because hardened cooked sugar was drawn out into reed-like sticks. An older folk story traces it instead to Latin cannamella, a fusion of canna ('cane') and mel ('honey'), which is sweet enough to wish were true but stays unproven.
- magic number
- sugar browns at around 320 degrees Fahrenheit
- not burning
- it is controlled decomposition, just shy of ruin
- onion lie
- true caramelized onions take 45 minutes, not 10
- reaction split
- different from Maillard browning, which needs protein
- flavor count
- creates hundreds of new aroma compounds
french onion soup — requires 40-45 minutes of caramelizing onions until deep golden brown, a classic french bistro dish
bananas foster — bananas caramelized in butter and brown sugar tableside, created 1951 at brennan's restaurant in new orleans