Charred, Browned, Blackened: The Dark Lure of Burned Food

[elleng]

'Smoke is shorthand for culinary catastrophe, setting off alarms in the kitchen and jitters in nervous cooks. But some foods will reward you for pushing them right over the edge, past done and headed toward burned.

“My burning method of choice is the broiler,” said the chef Gerardo Gonzalez, who draws inspiration from traditional Mexican moles to make his own at Lalo, the restaurant he opened last fall in Chinatown in Manhattan.

Mr. Gonzalez starts his mole with almonds, cashews, peanuts and pumpkinseeds, which are all toasted zealously, to the darkest possible shade of brown. “Just before they go black,” he said.

From the blackened avocados at Nix to the lamb heart ashes at Aska, burned and charred foods may seem like just another fad sweeping through pyrotechnically inclined restaurants. But burning, a technique that can involve a surprising amount of shading and subtlety, has deep roots in many cuisines.'>>>

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/24/dining/burned-food-charred-browned-blackened.html?

[irisblue]

1. I charred a polyester rug infront of the oven

family still talks about it 15 years later @ every holiday. sigh

[elleng]

2. HAHAHAHA!

Sorry about the continuing laughter!

[irisblue]

3. just as long as you aren't still laughing about this in front of my greatniece&nephew in 2033

The smoke was amazing tho'

[elleng]

4. Wouldn't think of it!

Sounds awful, really.

[Phentex]

5. I have always loved burnt or charred food...

and I hated to hear it was more carcinogenic than other food. The article points out they don't really know how dangerous it is in small amounts and it's worse in foods like potatoes and such. The soup with the burned toast sounds very interesting.

I like roasted vegetables even more when they have a little dark on them and I always grab the fries that look overdone.

Thanks for a great article!

[Galileo126]

6. I still like me some blackened fish

A cool thing from New Orleans.

I get it!