I was making Julia Child’s coq au vin today for the first time, and there in the middle you’re supposed to pour in a quarter cup of cognac and flame it. It wouldn’t flame! I’m, er, not a fan of fire, so I’d gingerly light a kitchen match, stick it into my tongs, hold it to the pot… nothing. I went through five matches before I gave up and decided it couldn’t possibly be that important. (It’s not like it was crepes Suzette or something.) Two hours later, dinner’s done and waiting for my boyfriend to come home and ask me why the hell his food is purple again.
But what should I have done? What did I do wrong, and why didn’t it flame?
Don’t know about the coq au vin, but way back when I used to make Steak Diane a lot, and I recall I would warm the brandy (or single-malt) in a small sauce pan first to make the fumes more combustable when I poured it over the dish.
Alcohol needs to be vaporized before it will flame. You can do this in the dish if it is shallow, or as noted above. Pour the cognac into a small sauce pan and heat over low flame. Shut off burner, then pour the cognac onto your coq au vin. Apply a lighted taper to the fumes. When the flames die down, stir to combine. Always have your unitasker handy when doing this.
In addition, the alcohol needs to be at least 80 proof. There are low-proof brandies that are generally sold where beer and wine is sold. They won’t flambé regardless of what you do.
Yeah, I remember going to the Anabelle Clark in N.C. No alcohol anywhere else!
So if the proof was high enough, sounds like what the others have said – not enough vapor to ignite.
Even if you’re skeeeeeerd of flames, get yourself a long-handled butane lighter. It’ll be a lot easier than striking a match, putting it in tongs, etc., etc.
I thought I had one, but it was nowhere to be found. One of these days I’m going to do what I do for scissors and buy a ten pack of the little bastards and put them everywhere.
