Flambéing

Flambéing is the kitchen technique of pouring a spirit such as brandy over food and setting it alight briefly.

Flambéing: A shallow copper pan of caramelized banana pieces in dark sauce with a soft blue and orange flame dancing over the surface
  • Techniques and preparation methods

Also called: flambé

To flambé a dish, a cook warms a spirit, adds it to the food, and ignites it. The flame burns off the raw alcohol, leaving behind the flavor of the spirit. In cooking vocabulary, the French verb flamber means to burn off alcohol by lighting it in a preparation, with crêpes suzette as the classic example.

It is often done for show at the table, with desserts such as crêpes or Christmas pudding. Brandy or another strong spirit is poured over the food and set alight just before serving, and the flames die down within moments.

Because the flame can leap up quickly, cooks keep their faces and hair well back from the pan.

Related entries

Sources

Written by VanillaGoods in our own words from these sources. Last reviewed October 15, 2026.

  1. Flambe, Encyclopedia.com (A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition)
  2. Flamber, Le Cordon Bleu, Cuisine Foundations (ckbk reference)