Maillard Reaction & Caramelization
📋 What it is
Browning food (the Maillard reaction) and browning sugar (caramelization) create hundreds of new flavours.
🗣️ Coach says
The delicious brown crust on toast, seared meat and roasted veg comes from the MAILLARD reaction — heat making sugars and proteins react into hundreds of new flavour and aroma molecules. CARAMELIZATION is similar but for sugar alone. Both need real heat and turn plain food golden and tasty.
🧠 Memory hook
Browning = new flavours! Maillard (sugars + proteins) · caramelization (sugar alone). Needs real heat.
😂 Giggle
What do you call cheese that isn't yours?
Nacho cheese!
😲 Whoa!
The Maillard reaction is named after a French chemist and creates over a thousand different flavour compounds — it’s why grilled, roasted and toasted foods taste so much richer than boiled ones.
✅ Quick check: Why does grilled or roasted food taste richer than boiled food?
Say your answer out loud first — then reveal.
Browning (the Maillard reaction) needs high dry heat to create hundreds of new flavour molecules — boiling stays too cool/wet.
Maillard browning requires high dry heat.
🧪 Try it! (2 minutes)
Compare boiled vs roasted vegetables — the browned roast has richer flavour from the Maillard reaction.