tostar

Tostar is a Spanish verb that means to brown or crisp food by applying dry heat. Its common culinary uses include toasting bread until the crust is golden and fragrant, and roasting coffee beans, nuts, or seeds to develop flavor and aroma. The action is typically performed with heat sources such as a skillet, oven, toaster, or grill, and it relies on the browning reactions that produce color and flavor compounds.

In cooking, tostar emphasizes dry heat without added fats. For bread, the result is a uniformly browned surface with a distinct toasty aroma. For coffee and nuts, toasting intensifies flavors and can range from light to dark profiles, depending on time and temperature. Overtoasting risks bitterness or scorching, underscoring the need for careful monitoring during the process.

Etymology and cognates: tostar originates in Spanish and is widely used across Romance languages to express browning or roasting with heat. Related terms appear in Portuguese and Italian, reflecting common roots for heat-induced browning in food. The concept is closely linked to the Maillard reaction, the chemical processes that produce aroma, flavor, and color changes during browning.

See also: Maillard reaction, bread, coffee roasting.