French Cuisine - Chocolate Souffle
Chocolate Souffle
Soufflé is a light, airy cake that originated
in France and many people, such as Claiborne and Franey who wrote Soufflé: Infinite Variations on
a Sublime Theme, regard it as “one of the great miracles of the French
kitchen”. It is a cornerstone of French cuisine, especially in the dessert
department, however, soufflé can be both a dessert and a savory main dish. It
comes from the word souffler, a French verb that means to ‘blow up’ or ‘puff
up’, according to Claiborne and Franey. Soufflés always contain two
elements: a pudding or crème patissiere base, and a merengue made of egg
whites. When the two are folded together, they create a light, flavorful dish.
Soufflé is by definition a wheat free dessert, because it does not contain any
flour or grain at all (at least in almost all cases). It is eggy and somewhat
resembles angel food cake, but even lighter. Soufflés, when made into desert,
often have a sauce that is poured into the middle of them. When made savory
style, they often contain interesting ingredients like onion, crab, or cheese.
Like many French dishes, soufflé is meant to
impress. It is beautiful, light, and puffy, and takes a great deal of skill to
master. The French are quite particular about cooking: there are certain
techniques that chefs around the world spend years learning by heart such as
the five mother sauces, which they believe all other sauces can be
made from: Béchamel, Velouté, Espagnole, Hollandaise, and Tomate. Bechémel is a
white sauce traditionally used in lasagna, Velouté is made from meat stock
combined with roux (flour and melted butter), Espagnole is a brown sauce that
is rarely used directly and is more often used as a base to create other sauces
from, Hollandaise is a tangy sauce made from combining butter and egg yolks,
and Tomate, as it sounds, is a basic tomato sauce. French cooking does not rely
on innovation or ingenuity, but rather on consistent, simple delicious food
with key techniques. Prior to the 17th century, many European chefs
thought that the four bodily humors, which were said to dictate health and well
being, could be balanced through food. Because of this, chefs stuck to rigid
guidelines that did not allow them to discover new flavors. Around the turn of
the 17th century, French chefs broke free of these beliefs and,
according to Weber who wrote The Sophisticated Table, “undertook the
refinement of flavor for its own sake”. Out of this flavor revolution, many
classic French dishes were born, such as Coq Au Vin, Ratatouille, and of course
the infamous soufflé.
Because of its grandeur, soufflé is not a
food to be eaten for breakfast, brunch, or lunch. If made in the savory manner,
it is usually eaten as an entrée and if made sweet, is usually eaten after the
main course for dessert. Most often, soufflé is made for special occasions
(such as birthdays or anniversaries) or at up-scale, five star restaurants.
It’s simple perfection allures diners of all kinds, and few can deny the
deliciousness of a perfectly prepared soufflé.
History
Soufflés have likely been
around ever since flour, milk, eggs and butter have been whipped up into
different concoctions to please the palate. But the first record of its
appearance is attributed to early 1700s French cook Vincent de la Chappelle,
who among other European dignitaries cooked for Madame de Pompadour, mistress
of Louis XV.
Along comes Antoine Beauvilliers nearly 100
years later, who is credited with the “first grand restaurant of Paris, if not
the world” according to William Sitwell in “A History of Food in 100 Recipes.”
Beauvilliers described how to make soufflé in “The Art of the Cook” (L’Art du
Cuisinier, 1814):
“Put in the size of an egg of good butter, a
little nutmeg and the yolks of four fresh eggs, the white of which must be
whipped apart as for biscuit; mix them by little and little into the puree
though hot, mix all well, and pour it into a silver dish or paper mould, put it
in the oven. When the soufflé is well risen, touch it lightly, if it resist a
little it is enough; it must be served immediately, as it is apt to fall.”
Beauvillier's obsession with soufflés at his famed restaurant La Grande Taverne
de Londres on the Rue de Richelieu, arguably was surpassed by Marie-Antoine
Carême, who was “a product of post-revolutionary Paris,” says Sitwell.
Perhaps the first celebrity chef, Carême
“broke, renewed and re-designed the mold of chef. He wasn’t the first to seek
fame, but he became the most famous.” Carême’s cookbook, “Le Pâtissier
Royal Parisien” published in 1815, contained several pages on the art of making
soufflés.
Jump a century and a half from French haute
cuisine soufflé lore to the endearing Audrey Hepburn scene at a Parisian culinary school in the
movie “Sabrina.” The master chef humiliates her (and most everyone) in
critiquing their failed efforts at soufflé:
“Too low; too high; too heavy; sloppy;” he
intones to each one.
Hepburn sighs to her French baron friend,
whose soufflé is perfect, “I don’t know what happened.”
He explains to her that she forgot to turn on
her oven.
“Your mind has not been on the cooking,” he
says. “It has been elsewhere. A woman happy in love, she burns the soufflé. A
woman unhappy in love she forgets to turn on the oven.”
The main thing to keep in mind in soufflé
preparation is that it really doesn’t matter how high the bubbly mixture poufs
up while it bakes. The ingredients hidden inside will taste heavenly and
cloud-like — as long as you remember to turn on the oven.
5 Tips That Will Help You Make a Perfect Soufflé Every Time
Any folks are scared of soufflé. And I get it. You hear
stories all the time about a soufflé collapsing or simply not rising in the
first place. If you've never seen anyone else make a soufflé, it can seem a
little daunting to tackle the task from a simple recipe. But really, truly I am
here to tell you that it's absolutely do-able. Not only is it do-able, it's
something you can easily master on an average old weeknight.
A few years ago, we wrote about souffles, offering a few tips of the trade. But
that was then, and many soufflés have been made since. We've honed our skills
and have 5 tips that will guarantee a perfect soufflé.
The gist of most soufflés is this: you make a base,
fold in whipped egg whites, and bake. If you're doing a sweet soufflé,
maybe your base is chocolate. If you're doing a savory version, maybe your base
is a version of a bechamel sauce, creamy with flecks of herbs. In this sense,
the technique for most recipes is the same. Here are a few tips to make sure you
succeed each and every time you set out to bake this light, airy treat.
- For Fail-Proof Meringue, Add Acid! This is not required by any means, but if you have trouble getting your egg whites or meringue to peak properly, you can always add a little lemon juice or cream of tartar to help strengthen the structure of the mixture.
- Don't Overfold: The tendency with many people is to really whip the whites into the base mixture. This is a mistake. You want to gently fold in the whites only until the point where the streaks of white disappear. Until you do this a few times, you'll probably feel as though you're under-mixing. Chances are: you're not.
- Use Fresh Room Temperature Eggs: Your eggs will act the way you want them to if they're room temperature. Whipping cold eggs is harder work and you won't get as much lift.
- Level off the Top of Your Soufflé With a Knife: You don't have to do this, but you know that magical flat top that soufflés have when you order them at restaurants? That's achieved with the swipe of a flat knife on the top of your souffle.
- Use the Bottom Oven Rack: Generally speaking (although each oven is certainly different), the bottom oven rack is what you want to use to achieve lift. So for anything light and airy that needs rise, bake on the bottom.
Weeknight Tip: Did you know that you can make a
soufflé ahead of time and bake them off when you're ready? This is a great
party tip — make them the day before, cover and refrigerate them and take them
to room temperature before you bake them off. They can be refrigerated for up 2
to 3 days.
Reference :
http://www.thekitchn.com/light-and-airy-5-tips-to-make-a-perfect-souffle-every-time-170747
Komentar
Posting Komentar