The brûlée torch

From the Lexicon, The Kitchen Torch

Directed fire, sold as a dessert toy and worth far more. The canon: CRÈME BRÛLÉE's glass lid (thin sugar, even sweeps, let it cool to glass: the pastry wing's stage-managed caramel), meringue toasting (baked Alaska's peaks, tarte au citron's optional crown). The savory second life: peeling peppers and tomatoes in place, blistering shishitos, finishing sous-vide proteins' edges where the pan can't reach (the crevices of a chicken thigh, a roast's pale corner: torch as detail-sear), melting cheese to order, aburi-style sushi's kissed fat (torched salmon nigiri's entire genre), charring citrus for cocktails. Hardware truth: the tiny culinary torches are underpowered toys; a hardware-store propane or MAP-gas head with a trigger igniter costs less and works properly; hold the flame so food sees the blue cone's TIP, keep it moving, and mind the 'torch taste' (unburned fuel from too-close, too-rich flames: distance and a hot, lean flame prevent it).