Meat & Poultry

When it comes to cooking meat, one of the most important methods to master is browning. The essence of good meat flavor comes from that deliciously sweet “roastiness.” At cooking school, my extremely formal chef instructors taught me that the French word for the brown bits that form in the bottom of your cooking pan is sucs (from the word sucre, meaning “sugar”). I find myself mumbling that word under my breath as I’m cooking, watching a piece of meat sizzle, the edges turning golden and crisp. Those deposits of caramelized protein are the source of the rich, dark taste we associate with meat-based stews and sauces.