No. 2362

Souffle of Game a la Lucie

Souffle de Gibier a la Lucie

Pound four ounces of cooked game meat with two ounces of rice boiled in broth until dry and consistent; add two tablespoonfuls of game glaze (No. 398), two raw egg-yolks and half an ounce of melted butter, then press all through a sieve, and beat the preparation thoroughly. Ten minutes before serving mix in half an ounce of truffles cut in one-eighth inch squares, and two egg-whites beaten to a stiff froth. Butter some paper cases (Fig. 439), stiffen them in the oven, then fill them three-quarters full with the souffle preparation, set them in the oven for about ten minutes, and when done glaze the tops with a little game glaze (No. 398) and serve without delay.

← No. 2361 Souffle of Fat Livers with Truffles Miscellaneous Entrées No. 2363 Souffle of Lobster in Cases →

For the Modern Kitchen

A small, rich savoury soufflé built on a rice panade rather than a béchamel, from the Delmonico's repertoire. Nearly all of it can be done ahead; the last ten minutes cannot.

The hinge: fold and bake at onceThe whites go in ten minutes before service and the cases go straight to the oven. A soufflé mixture stiffened with rice and yolks will deflate steadily once beaten whites are folded through, so have the cases buttered, dried and lined up before the whites are touched.
Game glaze (No. 398)Ranhofer's glace de gibier is game stock reduced until it sheets and sets to a firm jelly when cold — essentially a demi-glace taken further. A strongly reduced brown game or veal stock, cooked down to a syrup, does the same work. Two tablespoons is a large amount of seasoning; taste before adding all of it, as reduced glaze carries considerable salt.
The riceThe two ounces reads as the weight of rice before it is simmered in broth; cook it well past al dente until it is soft and the pan is dry, so it purées smoothly. It functions as the panade, binding the meat and keeping the soufflé from collapsing to nothing.
Pounding and sievingA food processor replaces the mortar, but the sieve is not optional — game meat holds sinew and the tamis is what gives the finished soufflé its texture. Push the purée through a drum sieve or a fine-mesh strainer with a stiff scraper.
Paper casesFig. 439 shows paper cases. Buttered and dried in the oven for a few minutes, they hold their shape; modern parchment or foil ramekin liners behave the same way. Small ceramic ramekins, buttered, are the practical substitute.
Oven heatThe recipe gives no oven temperature, only 'about ten minutes' in the oven. Around 400F is a reasonable modern reading for the bake — hot enough to set the outside and lift the whites, not so hot that the tops colour before the centre sets.
TrufflesHalf an ounce of truffle in eighth-inch dice is a garnish of the period's grand style, and black truffle is the likely intent. Fresh or good preserved black truffle is worth the money here; truffle oil is not a substitute in a dish where the pieces are meant to be visible and distinct.
YieldFour ounces of meat with two ounces of rice fills roughly four to six small cases — an entrée course in the nineteenth-century sense, served as one of several, not a main dish.
The game itselfThis is a use for cooked leftovers: roast pheasant, partridge, grouse, venison or hare. Dark, well-flavoured meat suits it; pale or delicate birds disappear behind the glaze.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) is Charles Ranhofer's record of what he cooked over some three decades at Delmonico's in New York, and it is organised like a professional's reference book — cross-referenced by number, assuming the reader has stock, glaze and garnish already at hand. Savoury soufflés in individual paper cases were a familiar nineteenth-century entrée, and one use for the trimmings of roast game was to serve them in a form that looked like an extravagance rather than a thrift. Names like "à la Lucie" fit the era's common practice of dedicating a preparation to a patron, a family member or a colleague; Ranhofer supplies dozens of them without explanation, and in most cases the person behind the name is no longer recoverable.