A spirit or gas lamp is used in conjunction with a gueridon to provide a flame for flambe work,

to reheat food and to keep food hot whilst it is being prepared. A skilled waiter will make good
use of his lamp to ensure that customers' meals are served hot but not spoiled by being dried
up. The lamp is of metal with a container of methylated spirit and a wick, or it can hold a
cylinder of butane gas; both are capable of being regulated to provide the required flame.

INTRODUCTION TO FLAMBE WORK

Only a skilled and experienced member of the waiting staff should be

permitted to do this work for there are inherent dangers in igniting

alcohol in a crowded room and many accidents have resulted because

inexperienced staff failed to exercise proper control over the flame

from the lamp, and it set fire to the curtains or blew up in the waiter's

face. A skilled waiter can pour brandy from the bottle directly onto a

flaming dish but a novice may find the flame spreads to the bottle so

he should use a measure or sauce boat.

The high price charged for a flambe dish includes the cost of the

measure of spirit and the extra skill involved in carrying out the

operation; the cost assists in keeping demand within reason since a

lower price might make flambe work become too popular and the

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member of staff responsible for this work would be rushed off his feet

while the cooks in the kitchen remained idle. Dishes prepared in the

restaurant must not be so highly spiced or seasoned as to cause strong

cooking smells in the room nor must the work be carried out with so

much aplomb as to cause a lot of noise. The preparation of flambe

dishes should be carried out by a waiter who has a flair for

showmanship in that he creates a moment of dramatic tension at the

setting alight of the dish, which impresses everyone in the room.

There are two kinds of table cooking-lamp - one works on a

container of methylated spirit and a wick which if properly trimmed

should not give any smell; the other has a replaceable container of

butane gas and will give more heat than a spirit lamp. The lamp is

made of stainless steel or of silver plate and has a wide flat top on

which to place the pan. Lamps must be properly serviced every day

and if possible checked to be sure that they contain sufficient fuel to

last through the service.

The pans used for cooking must look clean and hygienic, one with a

copper bottom will convey the heat better than a stainless steel one;

according to the number of portions being cooked, either a 22 cm or

30 cm diameter pan may be used. All the ingredients, cooking

equipment and serving dishes must be arranged neatly on the trolley

or cart, before starting to do the cooking. It is necessary to use 70°

(40%) proof spirits because these catch alight quite quickly when

warmed and even a sparse sprinkling is sufficient to cause a good

blaze. The following recipes are for two persons.

USE OF SPIRITS AND LIQUEURS IN COOKING

Although brandy is the spirit most widely used for flambe dishes,

some other spirits also have their uses with certain foods, provided

that their flavour is in keeping with the main item and its garnish. The

spirit must complement the dish because, although the alcohol may

be burnt away, the underlying richness of flavour of the drink is left

to give character and a rounded taste to the food. The spirit used

should be of good quality since the customer may ask to see the label

on the bottle, but it need not be the most expensive nor of highly

refined quality. For example a three-star brandy is better than an

older liqueur one, for cooking purposes. There is no point in adding a

lot of spirit as it will overpower the food, nor should several kinds of

spirit be used in one dish as they will clash. Only one kind of liqueur

should be used in any dish or there will be too mismatched a mixture

of tastes and flavours and in the end only one may predominate, so

wasting the others.

In most cases it is advisable to remove the meat, fish, etc. from the

chafing dish whilst flaming the pan, and to make any sauce before

replacing the food. If food is allowed to boil in the resultant sauce it is

likely to become stringy. When making Crepes Suzette, the made

pancakes must be turned and folded in the sauce over only a low

flame, because they will become chewy if allowed to boil in it.

Generally, the spirit should only be allowed to burn for a short time

thereby preserving most of its aroma and taste.

Armagnac is a high-class brandy that is usually darker and less

refined than cognac and may be used instead of it. Calvados is good

with pork and some game dishes. There are several kinds of rum,

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including white Bacardi and Daiquiri, but for flambe work ordinary

dark rum is used, mainly for an omelette or Christmas pudding.

Gin and Vodka do not leave any kind of flavour or aroma in dishes

and are not therefore used to flame dishes.

Kirsch and Maraschino are distilled from cherries and their stones,

and so are useful mainly in sweet dishes although they are not sweet

in themselves. The orange-flavoured liqueurs such as Cointreau,

Cura<;ao, Grand Marnier, Mandarine Napoleon, and Van der Hum,

are suitable for duck and pork, and in many sweet dishes.

Whiskies which come from Scotland, Ireland, Canada and USA

can be used to flame foods in place of brandy, but they leave a more

pronounced taste and aroma. Liqueur whiskies such as Drambuie,

Glayva and Glen Mist can be used for flaming fruits.

QUESTIONS

1. Indicate the reasons why, and say what, special precautions are

necessary, prior to the introduction of table or gueridon cookery

in a restaurant.

2. What are the principal characteristics of all the meat dishes which

are cooked at the table?

3. In ideal conditions when should flambe dishes be served?

4. State which principles should be considered when deciding which

particular kind or brand of spirit to use for flaming any given dish

in the restaurant.

Flambe work was a prominent feature of food service in night-clubs

in the years between the two World Wars and certainly the effect of

flaming food is more marked in the subdued lighting of a room of this

kind. It is not now so widely practised because of restricted space and

more stringent fire precautions.

Lamp work

1. A naked flame in a public room is always a source of danger, and the

ignition of alcohol in a crowded room can be a further source of danger. The

precautions that should be taken include:

(a) ensuring that staff doing flambe work have received proper training and

are either experienced or use the lamp under supervision;

(b) flambe preparation must take place away from inflammable materials

such as curtains, and at least 1 metre distant from any customer;

(c) always transfer the spirit to be ignited to a sauce boat so as to avoid

'bottle blow-back'.

2. The principal characteristics of all the meat flambe dishes is that such

dishes are normally composed of meat thinly sliced so that appropriate

cooking can take place in less than five minutes. Further, all the meat cuts

should be of a tender nature and as such should be capable of being prepared

in the shortest space of time; tough meat cuts are not suitable for this

purpose.

3. In ideal conditions flambe dishes should be served while the spirit is still

flaming. However, silk, light clothing and hair lacquer can easily ignite, and

the waiter must ensure that he is well clear of the customer before

approaching with the flaming dish.

4. The spirit used for flaming a particular dish should be complementary to

the basic characteristic of the main ingredients. For this reason one should

follow time-honoured recipes rather than risking such a contrast of flavours

which could be nauseous to the customer.