the.com/caramel
sugar pushed to the edge of ruin, then caught mid-fall and called dessert
means A chewy or syrupy confection made by heating sugar until it browns and develops a rich, toasty flavor, often enriched with butter and cream.
from English took it from French 'caramel', which came from Spanish 'caramelo' or Portuguese 'caramelo'. The deeper root is debated: one common account traces it to Late Latin 'cannamella', meaning 'sugar cane' (from 'canna', reed, plus a diminutive). Another line of thought connects it to Medieval Latin 'calamellus', a little reed, possibly hinting at the brittle, reed-like sticks of hardened sugar. The trail runs cold past the Iberian kitchens, but everywhere it points to cane and sweetness.
- chemistry
- caramelization needs no enzymes, just heat near 340°F
- hundreds of compounds
- one molten sugar splits into 100+ new flavors
- salt twist
- salted caramel went mainstream only in the 2000s
- name origin
- likely from Latin for sugar cane reed
- thin line
- seconds separate golden caramel from bitter burnt
fleur de sel caramel — french salted caramel from brittany, uses fleur de sel salt crystals for contrast
dulce de leche — latin american caramelized sweetened condensed milk, originated in argentina in 1829
salted caramel apple — gourmet candy apple popularized by high-end chocolatiers like jacques torres in nyc