Word of the Day: Mallard Reaction

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Word of the Day: Mallard Reaction

Wednesday, March 19th, 2008 | Food & Drink, Word of the Day |

It sounds like an allergic reaction to duck down pillows, but no. From Wikipedia:

The Maillard reaction is a chemical reaction between an amino acid and a reducing sugar, usually requiring heat. Like caramelization, it is a form of non-enzymatic browning. The reactive carbonyl group of the sugar reacts with the nucleophilic amino group of the amino acid, and forms a variety of interesting but poorly characterized molecules responsible for a range of odors and flavors. This process is accelerated in an alkaline environment as the amino groups are deprotonated and hence have an increased nucleophilicity. This reaction is the basis of the flavoring industry, since the type of amino acid determines the resulting flavor.

In the process, hundreds of different flavor compounds are created. These compounds in turn break down to form yet more new flavor compounds, and so on. Each type of food has a very distinctive set of flavor compounds that are formed during the Maillard reaction. It is these same compounds that flavor scientists have used over the years to create artificial flavors.

Although used since ancient times, the reaction is named after the chemist Louis-Camille Maillard who investigated it in the 1910s.

The Maillard reaction is responsible for many colors and flavors in foods:

Toasted bread

Malted barley as in malt whiskey or beer
Roasted or seared meat
Dried or condensed milk
Roasted coffee

Hat tip to Chris Wage, who offers a primer on how he cooks steak indoors by slowly heating them in the oven and then searing them in a pan. Sounds yummy.

Another technique that I assume uses the Mallard reaction is the sugar steak. Mix up salt and sugar, rub into the steak, and toss the steak and a tablespoon of oil into a pan preheated to medium heat. I’ve tried that technique and you get a nice glazed texture. You really don’t taste the sugar, either because it’s used up in the reaction or because the salt overwhelms it.

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