(numb-hot) I also decided to give star anise a try, in a nod to British chef Heston Blumenthal and his treatment of Bolognese sauce He found that, in moderation, star arise can boost the flavor of browned meats without making its presence known He was right, as I quickly discovered For maximum flavor, make sure to toast your spices whole before grinding them (see “Whole Versus Ground Spices,” here) All I needed now was the traditional combo of onion, garlic, and oregano, along with some fresh chiles (for added heat and freshness) and tomatoes I simmered everything together, added my cooked beans, simmered again, seasoned, and tasted So how’d it taste? Great But not quite worthy of its “Best” title yet It could still do with some more meatiness It was time to reach into my Bat utility belt of culinary tricks for the one weapon that has yet to fail me, my umami bombs: Marmite, soy sauce, and anchovies These can increase the meatiness of nearly any dish involving ground meat or of stews (see “Glutamates, Inosinates, and the Umami Bombs,” here) Adding a dab of each to my chile puree boosted my already-beefy short ribs to the farthest reaches of meatiness, a realm where seared skinless cows traipse across hills of ground beef, darting in and out of fields of skirt steak, stopping only to take sips of rivers overflowing with thick glace de viand I snapped out of my reverie with one thing on my mind: booze Alcohol has a lower boiling point than water and, even more important, it can actually cause water to evaporate at a lower temperature You see, water molecules are held loosely together like tiny magnets When water and alcohol are mixed, each individual water molecule becomes farther away from the other water molecules, making it much easier for it to escape and vaporize Since water- and alcohol-soluble aromatic molecules can only be detected by your nose if they escape into the air, it stands to reason that the more evaporation occurred, the more aromatic my chili would be I added a shot of liquor to my finished chili and gave it a side-by-side sniff test with a boozeless batch No doubt about it, the alcohol improved its aromatic properties After a thorough tasting of vodka, scotch, bourbon, and tequila in the name of good science, I came to the conclusion that in chili, they’re all good ... about it, the alcohol improved its aromatic properties After a thorough tasting of vodka, scotch, bourbon, and tequila in the name of good science, I came to the conclusion that in chili, they’re all good... alcohol-soluble aromatic molecules can only be detected by your nose if they escape into the air, it stands to reason that the more evaporation occurred, the more aromatic my chili would be I added a shot of liquor to my finished chili and gave it a...are held loosely together like tiny magnets When water and alcohol are mixed, each individual water molecule becomes farther away from the other water molecules, making it much easier for it to escape and vaporize