the.com/flambeau
Setting dinner on fire and calling it technique, not tragedy.
means A flaming torch, or by extension a dessert or dish served still on fire with flaming liquor, where the blaze is the whole point.
from Straight from French flambeau, 'torch,' from flambe/flamble, 'flame,' tracing back to Latin flammare and flamma. English borrowed it whole in the 17th century for ceremonial torches before it drifted, much later, into kitchens — where setting brandy alight turned an old word for fire-on-a-stick into fire-on-a-plate.
- literal meaning
- french for flaming torch
- the trick
- alcohol ignites, sugars caramelize, booze burns off fast
- showmanship factor
- tableside flames exist to impress, not improve flavor
- classic example
- crepes suzette, flamed with orange liqueur