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Creamed Cheese
For filling cheese puff fritters--beignets au parmesan--for ramequin puffs, canapes au fromage, etc. 8 ounces of cheese. 4 ounces of butter. 1/4 pint of milk. 4 yolks of eggs. Little cayenne pepper and salt.
Grate or mince the cheese very fine; put it and al the other ingredients in a saucepan and stir over the fire till it becomes thick and just begins to boil; but it must not quite boil, as that would spoil it.
As the good quality of this preparation is dependent upon its being made only just before it is to be served, and cheese grating is one of the tedious operations, it will be found, for hotel use, more expeditious to pound the cheese and butter together, slightly warmed, then pour in milk and yolks and stir till thickened. Can be used as a sauce with Italian fritters, made a triflle thinner.
A thick cheese custard used as a filling for fried and baked pastries, and thinned down as a sauce. It is essentially a savory pastry cream held together by yolks rather than starch, which dictates how it must be handled.
- The hinge: never let it boilThe yolks begin to set from around 150-160F and will curdle above roughly 180-185F, and boiling also breaks the cheese into oil and strings. Stir constantly over low heat until it coats the spoon heavily, then pull it off the heat entirely; the residual heat in the pan will carry it a little further.
- Quarter pintIf the book is using American measure, 1/4 pint is 1/2 cup (4 fl oz); on the British imperial pint it is 5 fl oz. Either will work here.
- The cheeseThe dishes named point to Parmesan or Gruyere, both of which were sold in hard blocks. Use a genuine aged Parmigiano-Reggiano or a firm Gruyere; pre-shredded cheese carries anti-caking starch that will make the mixture grainy, and soft young cheeses will not give the sharpness the pepper is balancing.
- The pounding shortcutThe mortar trick works because slightly softened butter carries the cheese into a paste, so it dissolves without pre-grating. A food processor does the same job in seconds -- pulse cubed cheese and cool butter to a smooth paste, then add the milk and yolks.
- Saucepan, not double boilerThe original says saucepan over the fire; a coal range gave a range of heats across the top, so the cook could move the pan to a cooler spot. On a modern burner use the lowest setting or set the pan in a wider pan of simmering water, and use a heavy pan rather than thin aluminum.
- Consistency and yieldMade as written it sets firm enough to pipe or spoon into puffs once cool; the ingredients as listed make something in the region of two cups, enough for a good number of small choux or ramekin puffs. For the sauce version, add milk a spoonful at a time after thickening, off the heat.
- Make it to orderThe warning about making it just before serving is sound. Held warm it separates, and chilled it stiffens to a paste; if you must hold it, refrigerate and rewarm very gently with a splash of milk, whisking.
This is French professional cooking, which is why the headnote reels off the French names of the things it fills -- beignets au parmesan, ramequin puffs, canapes au fromage. The preparation is a savory cousin of pastry cream, and the word ramequin (or ramekin) then meant the cheese preparation itself, a baked or fried cheese mixture, rather than the little dish it is now named after. The aside about cheese grating being tedious and the recommendation of a faster method "for hotel use" is the tell that this book was written for a working pastry department rather than a household: the author assumes orders coming in faster than one person can grate Parmesan by hand.