While it sound like a far - off concept bake up in a unfertile skill science laboratory , you ’ve almostcertainlyeaten food that has blend in through the Maillard ( label my - YAR ) reaction . In fact , you probably eat foods several time a week — orday — that have gone through this peculiar process .
nickname " the flavor reaction , " the Maillard reaction is a pillar offood scienceand the answer to the question " what makes cooked food gustation dependable ? " So what in the reality is the Maillard reaction ?
Discovered more than 108 years ago byFrench pill pusher Louis - Camille Maillard , the Maillard reaction is a serial of serial complex reactionsbetween amino acids on sugarswhen food is cooked . So , how does it work ? In layman ’s term , it ’s the chemic reaction that occur when youbrown your foodat a temperature between285 and 355 degrees Fahrenheit(140 and 179 degree Celsius ) .
During this process , flavor compounds are broken down to create lots of new flavor compounds . Those compounds then discontinue down , and so on and so on . So that delicious spicy smell you get with each compaction of your searedsteakis , in part , a direct event of the Maillard reaction .
Here ’s astep - by - step guideon what go on on a microscopic level .
So how is Maillard reaction different from caramelization ? " but put , caramelization is the toasting of sugars , while Maillard reaction is a flake more complex and necessitate the interaction between amino battery-acid and sugars,“Napa Valley Inglenook Winerychef Alex Lovickexplains . " The Maillard reaction begins to occur at a lower temperature than caramelization and produces many complex savor compounds . It ’s one cause why food that has undergone this reaction is often suitable and can be well more exciting and interesting to eat . "
The Maillard reaction is responsible for many colors and flavors in foods we know and use up all the fourth dimension :
So next time you cut into a perfectly seared steak , think that the deliciousness you taste actually comes from a serial of complex chemical process known as the Maillard reaction .
