What is the Maillard Reaction?
One of the most important aspects of Western cooking is the Maillard reaction. The Maillard reaction is a chemical reaction that occurs when food browns, which can happen through processes such as frying in a pan, high heat from an oven, grilling, or even using a blowtorch.
The process is indispensable when it comes to preparing food with sous vide. For most ingredients, it is required to dry them after being in the water bath and then sear them. With pork, however, there are advantages to browning the meat before vacuum sealing it and again after the water bath.
It is a reaction between amino acids and sugars that occurs with heating, creating aroma and flavor. Maillard is not the same as caramelization, and the primary difference between the two is that caramelization is so-called pyrolytic, while the Maillard reaction is non-pyrolytic. In a pyrolytic process, larger molecules break down into smaller ones.
Wikipedia describes the reaction as follows:
“The reactive carbonyl group of the sugar molecule interacts with the nucleophilic amino group of amino acids, and the result is molecules that provide flavor and aroma. The nature of these molecules is not well-characterized. The type of amino acid determines the aroma and flavor, and the Maillard reaction forms the basis for much of the flavor industry. Several hundred different flavor compounds are formed during the reaction. They break down into even more new flavor compounds. Different types of foods generate certain flavor compounds during the Maillard reaction. These compounds are used to produce artificial flavors. The process has been used since ancient times. It is named after the chemist Louis-Camille Maillard, who studied it in France in 1912.”