Classic Cheese Soufflé Recipe & The History Of The Soufflé
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May 18th is National Cheese Soufflé Day: a day to have at least one cheese soufflé and for us say hello to our various soufflé dishes and ramekins that have been hiding in the closet since last year’s holiday. We spent most of our 20s making soufflés, both sweet (chocolate, vanilla, fruit) and savory (cheese, fish, spinach). The frenzy with which we turned them out was, in retrospect, our own mash-up of Julie & Julia and Groundhog Day. The word soufflé is the past participle of the French verb souffler, “to puff up”—which is exactly what happens when the combination of an egg custard base with beaten egg whites folded in is baked into an airy, spongy, quasi-moist, quasi-cakey concoction, just firm enough to hold its shape. While a soufflé can be baked in a variety of containers, fluted soufflé dishes or individual ramekins have become traditional over the years. Soufflés can be savory and served as a main dish or sweetened as a dessert. There are dessert “frozen soufflés,” but the chemistry is different—dense, frozen cream provides the shape, not fluffy, beaten egg whites. A hot soufflé puffs up to an impressive height because of the bubbles of hot air trapped in the batter. As the soufflé cools, the hot air contracts and the soufflé deflates or “falls.” That’s why a soufflé needs to be served immediately to impress with its full majesty. Although fallen soufflés are less airy, they taste just fine. But there are special names that make a fallen souffle seem intentional. See them below. Below: > More delicious soufflé recipes. > What to call a fallen soufflé. > The best wines for cheese soufflé. Elsewhere on The Nibble: > The different types of cheese: a photo glossary. > The history of cheese. To make a cheese soufflé, grated cheese is mixed into a béchamel (a type of white sauce). In the course of making cheese soufflés over and over again, we tried different cheeses, from Comté and Gruyère to Cheddar and Stilton. The cheese you prefer will depend on how mild or sharp you like your cheeses, but start with Comté or Gruyère, two French basics. There are a few “givens” for best results: Ingredients For 4 to 6 Side Servings Or 2 Mains 1. PLACE the rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 400°F. Generously butter one 10-cup soufflé dish or six 1-1/4-cup ramekins. Sprinkle the dish(es) with Parmesan cheese to coat and tap out the extra. If using ramekins, place all six on a rimmed baking sheet for easy removal from the oven. 2. MELT the half stick of butter in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour, cayenne pepper, and nutmeg. Cook without browning until the mixture begins to bubble, whisking constantly, about 1 minute. 3. GRADUALLY WHISK in the milk, then the wine. Whisk constantly until the mixture is smooth, thick, and beginning to boil, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. 4. BLEND the egg yolks, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Add the yolk mixture all at once to the white sauce and whisk quickly to blend. Fold in the Gruyère and the Parmesan cheeses (the cheeses do not need to melt—they’ll melt in the oven). 5. BEAT the egg whites in a large bowl with an electric mixer, until stiff but not dry. Fold 1/4 of the whites into the [lukewarm] cheese base to lighten. Fold in the remaining egg whites. 7. PLACE the soufflé in the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 375°F. Bake the soufflé until it is puffed, golden, and gently set in the center—about 40 minutes for the large soufflé or 25 minutes for the ramekins. 8. REMOVE the baked soufflé with oven mitts to a heatproof platter (or individual plates for the ramekins), and serve immediately. |
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 [7] Maman’s Cheese Soufflé. The maman is Chef Jacques Pépin’s. Here’s the recipe (photo © Julia Gartland | Food52). THE HISTORY OF THE SOUFFLÉ According to the Oxford Companion to Food, custards, puddings, and pies have been made since Medieval times, and Renaissance European cooks used whisked egg whites—a critical component of the soufflé—in a variety of dishes. But it wasn’t until the 17th century that chefs perfected meringue, a technique that then enabled them to develop the soufflé. What we know as the modern soufflé was developed in France in the 18th century. Cheese Soufflé (The Original): Savory soufflés, particularly those made with cheese or meat, were the first to be documented. The earliest mentions are attributed to French master cook François Massialot in the 1730s, and they remained the dominant form throughout the 1700s. Meat Soufflé: While these are next common now, Meat soufflés (made with purée beaten into the custard) often rise a bit less (and/or collapse sooner) than cheese soufflés because the meat additions can make the base heavier and harder to keep airy. Cheese and meat soufflés initially were one course of a larger meal. Dessert Soufflé: While sweet versions existed in the late 18th century, dessert soufflés—such as those flavored with chocolate or fruit—didn’t gain widespread popularity until the 19th century. Chocolate, vanilla, lemon, and orange flower water (replaced today by orange liqueurs like Grand Marnier) were favorite sweet flavors. While the majority of today’s soufflés have a custard base (egg yolks combined with the flavor element), in Carêm’s day it had as its starting point a roux (a cooked mixture of flour and butter), a recipe that was invented in France in the late 18th century. (Modern recipes can still be found with a flour base). The great chef and restaurateur Antoine Beauvilliers, who opened the first “real” restaurant* in Paris in 1782, was possibly serving soufflés at that date; his L’Art du Cuisinier, published in 1814, includes recipes. The dish was an immediate success and Beauvilliers, according to Brillat-Savarin, “was for more than fifteen years the most famous restaurateur in Paris.†” Those recipes show that modern tastes parallel older ones. As one writer noted in 1828, “It will be sufficient to observe on the subject of soufflés that they are all made in the same manner, and that they vary only in the taste you give them.” The cheese soufflé, initially one course of a larger meal, evolved in modern times to a light main course, served with a green salad and a glass of rosé or white wine. The evolution follows. The cheese soufflé today is still an emblem of classical French technique, yet it has become far more flexible and friendly. While some Francophile chefs still choose to create that that tall, immaculate crown of cheese and air, modernists have developed other techniques: The culinary world definitely has come up with a few clever ways to rebrand a fallen soufflé so it sounds like an intentional recipe rather than a kitchen mishap. Historically, the French have paired cheese soufflé with wines from the regions where those cheeses originate. For a Comté or Gruyère soufflé, a Vin Jaune or a dry Savagnin from the Jura region is the traditional choice. Most Americans haven’t tried these wines, but if you get to France, they offering a unique oxidative, nutty flavor that matches the cheese perfectly. For bottles readily available in the U.S.: White wines pair best because they don’t have tannins that might clash with the creamy, salty profile of the cheese. Some of these pair best with particular cheeses. Sparkling wine is airy, just like the souffle, making bubbles an excellent choice. Our go-to wine with cheese soufflé is rosé; many professional sommeliers considered a “secret weapon” pairing. It sits in that perfect middle ground, with the refreshing acidity and chill of a white wine to cut through the heavy fats of the eggs and butter. And it has just enough red-fruit structure to stand up to the savory depth of an aged cheese. Three suggestions: Those who only drink reds need to avoid heavy, tannic wines like Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel, which will overwhelm the dish and can taste metallic when paired with eggs. Instead, two better choices are: *The first restaurant in Paris purportedly was opened in 1765 by a soup maker named Boulanger. It is true that his was the first establishment to offer a menu with a choice of dishes, and he may have been the first to use the term “restaurant” to describe his establishment. But Beauvilliers’ restaurant, La Grande Taverne de Londres, was, as the famous gastronome Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin said, “the first to combine the four essentials of an elegant room, smart waiters, a choice cellar, and superior cooking.” †From Horizon Cookbook and Illustrated History of Eating and Drinking Through the Ages, William Harlan Hale [American Heritage] 1968 (p. 713). CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM. |
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