browning reactions... During cooking, carbohydrates often provide flavour by reacting with other food components to produce brown pigments. Sweets, biscuits, bread, pasta, potatoes and rice all contain carbohydrates. Caramelisation Caramelisation occurs when certain sugars are heated at very high temperatures. A chef will use a tiny blowtorch on the top of a crème bruleè to give it its hallmark crackly dark top, and you get the same effect if you toast a marshmallow in the fire. The high temperature dehydrates the sugar leaving a brown residue with a buttery or toffee flavour. Maillard Reactions Maillard Reactions occur when a carbohydrate reacts with a protein at very high temperatures. It creates effects such as the browning of bread, French fries and cheese on a pizza. Enzymatic browning Requires no cooking, this one. And it doesn’t enhance the flavour of food either. It occurs when fresh fruit or vegetables turn brown in the presence of oxygen. Happening in a fruitbowl near you right now! << Go Back