Torrefacto Roast

Torrefacto

Torrefacto refers to a particular process of roasting coffee beans, common in Spain, Paraguay, Portugal, Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Uruguay and Argentina. The process involves adding a certain amount of sugar during roasting in order to glaze the beans. By adding the additional sugar to the beans it increases the effects of the Maillard reaction during the roasting process, thus giving the beans more of that distinct flavor. The glazed beans are then mixed with normal roasted beans. While originally a cheap way of preserving the coffee beans in the 1920s, due to the common use of low-grade Robusta coffee the process was also used to hide negative aroma taste characteristics of the coffee.

Roasting

Roasting is a cooking method that uses dry heat where hot air covers the food, cooking it evenly on all sides with temperatures of at least 150 °C (300 °F) from an open flame, oven, or other heat source. Roasting can enhance the flavor through caramelization and Maillard browning on the surface of the food. Roasting uses indirect, diffused heat, and is suitable for slower cooking of meat in a larger, whole piece. Meats and most root and bulb vegetables can be roasted. Any piece of meat, especially red meat, that has been cooked in this fashion is called a roast. Meats and vegetables prepared in this way are described as "roasted", e.g., roasted chicken or roasted squash.

torrefacto

Noun

1. A type of coffee, particularly popular in Spain and neighboring countries, preserved and glazed by roasting with sugar.

roast

Verb

1. To cook food by heating in an oven or over a fire without covering, resulting in a crisp, possibly even slightly charred appearance.
2. To cook by surrounding with hot embers, ashes, sand, etc.

Noun

1. A piece of meat suited to roasting; meat that has been roasted.
2. A meal consisting of roast foods.