No. 2361

Souffle of Fat Livers with Truffles

Souffle de Foies-Gras aux Truffes

Pound six ounces of fat livers with two ounces of rice thoroughly cooked in broth until perfectly dry; add one whole egg, season and press the preparation through a sieve, putting the puree into a bowl; make it very smooth by stirring into it four spoonfuls of raw chicken quenelle forcemeat (No. 89), and two well-beaten-up egg-whites. Fill with this some paper cases (Fig. 439) previously buttered and stiffened in the oven; set them in the oven for ten to twelve minutes, and glaze them with some light chicken glaze (No. 398), using a brush for this purpose.

← No. 2360 Souffle of Chicken a la Delsart Miscellaneous Entrées No. 2362 Souffle of Game a la Lucie →

For the Modern Kitchen

A small, rich soufflé from Ranhofer's The Epicurean, built on foie gras thinned with rice and bound with quenelle forcemeat. The hinge is the forcemeat: it must be cold and smoothly worked before the whipped whites go in, or the mixture breaks and the soufflés weep fat in the oven.

"Fat livers"Foies-gras, fattened duck or goose liver. The text does not say whether raw or already cooked; six ounces of cleaned lobe is the sense. Cooked terrine-style foie gras will work but is already seasoned and salted, so cut back on added salt.
Rice cooked "perfectly dry"Two ounces of rice (the text does not say whether weighed before or after cooking) simmered in stock until it collapses and the pan is dry -- closer to a stiff pilaf than a risotto. Residual liquid will slacken the puree and work against the rise.
Quenelle forcemeat (No. 89)Ranhofer's raw chicken quenelle forcemeat is pounded breast meat worked with a panada, sieved and kept cold. A modern equivalent is a chicken mousseline: 4 oz breast, an egg white and about 1/3 cup heavy cream blitzed cold in a processor. "Four spoonfuls" is roughly 1/4 cup if read as tablespoons.
Oven heatNo temperature is given. For paper cases this size, a moderately hot oven of roughly 375-400F is a reasonable modern reading of the ten to twelve minutes stated.
Paper casesFig. 439 shows the paper cases referred to, buttered and stiffened in the oven so they hold shape. Buttered ramekins of 3-4 fl oz do the same job. No yield is stated.
Chicken glaze (No. 398)Chicken stock reduced to a syrup that sets tacky when cold; the recipe calls for a light one, so a pale rather than a dark reduction. Reduced stock brushed on warm is the practical substitute; the glaze is applied after baking, so work fast before the souffles fall.
TrufflesThe title promises them but the text as printed does not mention them at any point. If using them, fresh black truffle or good preserved truffle, not truffle oil.
ServingAn entrée course in a long menu: one small case per person, sent out immediately. They hold no better than any other soufflé.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) is Charles Ranhofer's record of some three decades as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and this dish shows the house style -- an expensive ingredient lightened, sieved, and served in a small portion. The rice and the quenelle forcemeat are doing structural work: they stretch six ounces of liver and give the whipped whites something to climb. Cross-references to numbered recipes elsewhere in the book (No. 89, No. 398) are the volume's defining habit, and a sign it was written for a professional brigade that already had forcemeat and glaze standing in the larder.