What does “ablöschen” mean in German cooking?

Every German recipe that involves frying meat takes ablöschen for granted: once the onions and tomato paste are sautéed, you pour in wine or stock and the hot pan hisses as the liquid lifts the browned residue from the bottom. That residue — the Bratensatz — is where the flavour lives. The word comes from löschen (“to extinguish”) with the prefix ab-, so you are literally quenching the pan.

In this clip, the cook sautés onions, garlic, and peppers, stirs in Tomatenmark, then says “mit Rotwein ablöschen” — a single phrase that collapses an entire technique into one verb. You can ablöschen with wine, broth, beer, or even water; the choice of liquid shapes the sauce that follows. German recipe writers use the verb as a bare instruction (“ablöschen” in the ingredients list means “add and deglaze”), so recognising it unlocks hundreds of written recipes at once.