Re:Why do recipe writers lie and lie about how long it takes...
by justinlloyd on Tuesday May 23, 2023 @02:20PM
(#36048574)
I am sure that Germany has many more words on how to describe cooked onions. Likewise, we have at least a dozen words in the English language for how to cook onions, that also translate directly to the German oddly enough. Unfortunately people who write on-line recipes have latched on to the caramelized onion notation and are not particularly explicit in what they actually want. Having gone through four years of culinary training, I now look at recipes on-line with a very critical eye and much like how you can identify the copy & paste code and architecture of a junior developer, you can also identify the recipe borrowing and construction of people who are better at blogging than they are at cooking.
Re:Why do recipe writers lie and lie about how long it takes...
by skyyler on Tuesday May 23, 2023 @04:01PM
(#36050093)
In English we call these "sweated", "caramelised", and "frenched", respectively. I'm not sure why the phrase "sweat" doesn't get much use outside of pro kitchens, it's a useful term.
1.) Anschwitzen, literally "sweating up", means putting them in a pan on low heat for around 10 minutes until they are translucent ("glasig", literally "glassy"). This is how to get a starter for many sauces, and is the standard way to prepare onions for many, many meals and sauces (e.g. a standard tomato sauce). They should not turn brown, as this would for example ruin the color and flavor of white or light sauces - caramelized onions have a kind of "heavy" flavor.
2.) Karamelisieren, "caramelize", which is the meaning described in this article.
3.) Rösten, "roast", which means frying the onions with a bit a flour until they are crispy.