[0 - 1] - We have all been here.
[1 - 4] You tried to multitask and you burnt your toast.
[4 - 5] That's a tough way to start the day.
[5 - 8] But, while burnt may not be your jam for toast,
[8 - 10] lightly burning foods can actually provide a seasoning,
[11 - 13] Today I'm gonna show you why and how,
[13 - 16] but first I'm gonna eat this toast.
[16 - 20] (gentle rhythmic plucking)
[20 - 21] It is the 1980s.
[21 - 25] Leg warmers, the Walkman, Cabbage Patch Kids, Reagan,
[25 - 28] the power glove. Oh, you already know the decade?
[28 - 29] Oh, okay, all right.
[29 - 31] Well, it's the 1980s and Chef Paul Prudhomme,
[31 - 32] and his wife Kay Henricks,
[32 - 34] of K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen in New Orleans
[34 - 37] have just given the culinary world a new term.
[37 - 39] That word is "blackening."
[39 - 41] to Prudhomme, blackening meant dipping food,
[41 - 43] in this case, fish, in melted butter,
[43 - 45] dredging it in a Cajun spice blend,
[45 - 47] and searing it in a ripping hot cast iron skillet
[47 - 49] with more melted butter.
[49 - 51] The fat and spices smoked and charred just enough
[51 - 54] to give the coating a primal, boundary-pushing savoriness
[54 - 57] that stopped just short of fully burnt.
[57 - 58] When Prudhomme was asked in an interview
[58 - 60] why he blackened his fish, he said,
[60 - 63] "because it gives you the ultimate taste."
[63 - 65] And, that is what we're after today,
[65 - 67] boundary-pushing flavor that we can only get
[67 - 69] by moving beyond browning.
[69 - 71] Whether you call it char, blackened, or singed,
[71 - 74] there is flavor to be found at the extremes.
[74 - 76] Think barbecue burnt ends, and even s'mores.
[76 - 78] Actually, why don't I make a s'more right now
[78 - 80] so I can show you what I'm talking about.
[80 - 83] When you toast marshmallows, the inside turns nice and soft
[83 - 85] and the outside starts to brown.
[85 - 87] When a food browns during cooking,
[87 - 89] we are either seeing caramelization
[89 - 91] where heat breaks down sugars to produce rich,
[91 - 94] toasty flavors, or we are witnessing Maillard browning
[94 - 96] where heat acts on small sugars and amino acids
[96 - 100] to create incredibly complex savory roasty flavors,
[100 - 102] often both can be happening in the same food.
[102 - 105] Now, I could stop at browning for this marshmallow,
[105 - 107] but has it reached its full potential?
[107 - 108] Let's go a little bit further
[108 - 110] and pick up some gorgeous bits of black.
[110 - 112] That's what I'm looking for.
[112 - 113] Now, I'm gonna slide it off the skewer
[113 - 114] and onto the chocolate
[114 - 117] using the graham crackers as scrapers, as one does.
[117 - 120] For me, the chocolate must be cool and firm never melted.
[120 - 121] This is perfect.
[121 - 122] The graham cracker crunches,
[122 - 124] the chocolate has the perfect amount of bite,
[124 - 127] and the marshmallow offers a thin, crisp, edge,
[127 - 128] and super gooey insides.
[128 - 129] But, that char?
[129 - 130] That's the magic.
[130 - 132] It offers a hint of bitterness and smoke
[132 - 135] that balances the sweet and makes the whole thing pop.
[135 - 137] Now, I clearly have some strong opinions about s'mores,
[137 - 140] and I've had some campfire arguments with people about them.
[140 - 141] I think it's time to bring that conversation
[141 - 142] to the comment section.
[142 - 145] So, I wanna know, what is your ideal s'more?
[145 - 147] Are you right there with me? Do you sub dark chocolate,
[147 - 149] you don't melt the chocolate, do you?
[149 - 150] No burn on the marshmallow. Let me know.
[150 - 152] Okay, back to the matter at hand.
[152 - 154] A surface that is merely tanned,
[154 - 156] often hasn't reached maximum flavor,
[156 - 158] and one that has blackened entirely
[158 - 159] has overshot the mark and burned.
[159 - 162] But, there is a zone of prized, next level flavor
[162 - 165] and complexity as food pushes past the browning phase,
[165 - 167] and elements of charred flavor come into being.
[167 - 171] And, it's thanks to a set of chemical reactions called pyrolysis.
[171 - 173] The term is rooted in the Greek words for "fire,"
[173 - 175] and "to break," or "release."
[175 - 177] It refers to decomposition brought on by high temperatures.
[177 - 179] When food is heated to temperatures
[179 - 182] above about 350 degrees Fahrenheit, all of its components,
[182 - 185] starch, proteins, sugars, fats, polyphenols, flavonoids,
[185 - 188] start breaking down,
[188 - 191] creating new molecules that taste deeply, roasty, tarry,
[191 - 193] smoky, and bitter.
[193 - 194] The trick to doing it well is restraint.
[194 - 197] Food can only take a modest dose of pyrolysis
[197 - 199] before it tastes truly burnt.
[199 - 202] Creme brulee is a great and delicious example.
[202 - 204] We sprinkle sugar on top of our cooked custard.
[204 - 206] When we apply heat with a torch,
[206 - 207] the sugar liquefies immediately, and water is driven off
[207 - 210] and it quickly transforms from colorless, to tan,
[210 - 214] to dark brown, to blackened spots.
[214 - 216] Pyrolysis has entered the chat.
[216 - 218] The rich vanilla bean custard is complimented
[218 - 219] by all of the flavors of the caramel,
[219 - 221] plus the smoky intensity of that char.
[221 - 223] The sweet tastes less sweet,
[223 - 226] and the added bitterness provides a wonderful counterbalance
[226 - 227] to the dish's richness.
[227 - 230] Okay, now that I'm full of sugary desserts,
[230 - 231] I'm ready to go to the kitchen
[231 - 233] and do some next level blackening.
[233 - 236] Prudhomme originally blackened red drum fish,
[236 - 238] and blackened fish is obviously wonderful,
[238 - 241] but the technique can be applied to a wide range of foods.
[241 - 243] I love it for chicken because it adds rich complexity
[243 - 246] to a protein we often find a little boring.
[246 - 248] Now, if you haven't checked out my episode
[248 - 250] on making chicken breast not boring, there's a link below.
[250 - 253] Blackening starts with a great spice mix.
[253 - 255] So, we'll combine smoked paprika, paprika, salt,
[255 - 260] garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, thyme, oregano,
[260 - 263] and cayenne in a wide shallow bowl.
[263 - 265] For our chicken, we're gonna make cutlets.
[265 - 267] So, let's do a little chicken prep sidebar here.
[267 - 269] If you've ever struggled to slice a chicken breast
[269 - 272] horizontally from end to end, into even cutlets,
[272 - 273] you are not alone.
[273 - 275] That is a hard technique to perfect,
[275 - 277] and it doesn't actually make very evenly-shaped cutlets,
[277 - 280] because one end of the chicken breast
[280 - 281] is obviously a lot thicker than the other.
[281 - 282] So, instead of that technique,
[282 - 285] we're gonna use what I call the rule of thirds.
[285 - 287] We cut the chicken breast in half crosswise,
[287 - 289] so we have a thinner side and a thicker side.
[289 - 291] Now, we just have to make cutlets out of the thicker side.
[291 - 293] Because it's much smaller than the whole breast,
[293 - 295] it's a lot easier to slice.
[295 - 298] As I pull them apart, we can see that we have three cutlets
[298 - 299] of very even thickness already.
[299 - 301] All they need is a quick and gentle pound
[301 - 303] so that they're about a third of an inch thick.
[303 - 305] thin cutlets cook through quickly,
[305 - 307] which will mean less smoky searing time.
[307 - 308] Cutlets are great
[308 - 311] because there's a high ratio of surface area to volume.
[311 - 313] That means each bite is gonna be loaded with flavor.
[313 - 314] Okay, let's cook.
[315 - 318] I'm using cast iron because once it gets hot, it stays hot,
[318 - 319] and it can deliver consistent high heat
[319 - 320] to the surface of the food.
[320 - 323] I'm gonna preheat it with just a little bit of oil.
[323 - 325] Because the oil is refined, it has a high smoke point
[325 - 327] of around 400 degrees.
[327 - 329] I can use the oil as a visual indicator
[329 - 331] of when my pan is hot and ready.
[331 - 333] But, butter is the choice of fat for blackening,
[333 - 335] because its small amount of milk solids
[336 - 337] are a key part of Maillard browning.
[338 - 340] So, now we add a tablespoon, swirl to coat,
[340 - 341] and then add six cutlets.
[341 - 343] Notice how the cutlets cover almost all of the pan.
[343 - 345] That's important for keeping smoke in check.
[345 - 346] Check out this experiment.
[346 - 348] Here, I only place two cutlets in the skillet.
[348 - 350] You can see that the uncovered sections of the pan
[350 - 352] are smoking intensely.
[352 - 354] That's because the heat of the hot cast iron
[354 - 355] has nowhere else to go,
[355 - 357] except to the oil and butter on the surface of the skillet.
[357 - 360] So, those areas get incredibly hot and burnt,
[360 - 362] producing way too much smoke.
[362 - 364] Now, check out my skillet with six cutlets.
[364 - 366] The energy from the skillet is absorbed by the chicken,
[366 - 369] so, we see wisps of smoke that are much more manageable.
[369 - 371] I'm using my spatula to press on the cutlets
[371 - 374] so that they make excellent contact with the pan.
[374 - 375] After just two minutes, we flip,
[375 - 377] and look at this incredible blackening.
[377 - 380] There's a deep rich brown underneath,
[380 - 382] and a light coverage of char on top.
[382 - 383] I'll press on the cutlets again,
[384 - 385] and after just one more minute,
[385 - 387] the undersides are blackened and cooked through.
[387 - 391] Okay, let's have a taste. (moans happily)
[391 - 392] This is incredible.
[392 - 394] The spice mix is super flavorful,
[394 - 396] and the level of browning and blackening
[396 - 398] adds an incredible layer of complexity.
[398 - 401] What's wild is it doesn't taste burnt at all.
[401 - 403] It's savory, smoky, and meaty.
[403 - 406] This might be the best chicken breast I've ever eaten.
[406 - 408] I'll have some blackened chicken, a spoon of creme brulee,
[408 - 411] and another bite of this ooey gooey s'more.
[411 - 415] This is, without a doubt, how to eat slightly burned food.
[415 - 419] (gentle rhythmic music)
[420 - 422] Thank you all so much for watching.
[422 - 424] Now, just like with something like bacon,
[424 - 426] eating burnt foods every single day
[426 - 428] isn't gonna be the best thing for your health,
[428 - 430] but using the technique in moderation
[430 - 432] will absolutely elevate your cooking.
[432 - 434] Now, I'd love to hear what foods you choose
[434 - 436] to slightly burn.
[436 - 437] Now about those s'mores.
[437 - 440] Lemme know in the comments what your ideal specimen is.
[440 - 440] While you're down there,
[440 - 442] you can grab today's recipes at the link,
[442 - 445] or at cooksillustrated.com.whatsEatingDan,
[445 - 447] hit like and subscribe,
[447 - 448] and I'll see you next time.