Setting food on fire is as old as the flames themselves. There's something dazzling about a dish that comes to the table with a burst of light. This kind of flamboyant coookign is coming back. Best of all it can be replicated in the home kitchen. What better way to enjoy it than for Valentine's Day.
Melissa Clark wrote about this type of cooking in her A Good Appetite column in today's New York Times Food section. Flambeing was a must in so many restuarants in the Fifties and Sixties. The one dish, whcih she also features was cherries jubilee , first created by the great French August Escoffier for Queen Victorti'as Golden Jubilee. Another dessert, New orlean's famed Bananas Foster is another such dish. This si a delcious mix of sliced bananas cooked quickly in a butter, brown sugar and cinnamon saute. Rum is added tableside and the whole flaming sauce is then ladled over vanilla ice cream. Crepes Suzettes are made in a similar vein with the crepes being ignnited tableside to the delight of diners. She also gives the recipe and writes about Cafe Brulot a fancy whipped cream coffee , laced with cognac and Gran Marnier>Flambeed food goes back to Eighteenth Century Germany when young university students used t ignite their punches. Flaming it tempered the harsher tastes of new alcohol.The 1800's saw a rise in it, especially with sauces,puddings and even fruit cakes. Charles Dickens wrote them, in his famed "A Christmas Carol" with about Mrs. Cratchet's flaming plum pudding alight with brandy and fire.
Ms. Clark offers more romantic fare for a spectacular Valentine's Day at home. There is the classic French bistro dish of Steak Diane along with Cherries Jubilee and Cafe Brulot. Steak Diane has filet mignon or strip steak that's first saiteed in unslated butter.It's then sliced and kept warm under an inverted bowl. The sauce is made by sautring shallots in grapeseed or safflower oil. Tomato paste is added and cooked untilits' deepened in color. This si when the cognac is added .Light it with a long stick match and let it cook until the flame burns out. It's then time to add cream, Worcester sauce , mustard and fish sauce .Cook for another three minutes. You could serve it with shoe string fries for true bistro dinner. For dessert it's Cherries Jubilee!! It's first crearing a sauce of freshly squeezed orange juice, butter and cardamon pods Sweet cherries and sugar is added to this and cooked until the sugar is dissolved.Pur Cognac in a ladle then into the cherries. Ignite and then turn down the flame. Add a pinch of salt and add oiver cake or ice cream (try chocolate instead of vanilla this time) Finish with the Creme Bruyot. It'd cooking Gtand Marner with orange and lemon zest along with cinnamon sticks. Igniteand then pour in th e coffee. Strain and served piping hot topped with a good head of whipped cream and cinnamon.
A flambeed meal is a special one. Try a French classic Steake Diane and finish with Cherries Jubilee and Creme Bruyot. It' will make for a fiery and delicious Valentine's Day dinner.
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