No. 2983

Souffle with Parmesan Cheese

Souffle au Fromage Parmesan

Have a gill of water in a saucepan, with two ounces of butter, a pinch of sugar, some whole peppers and salt; let the liquid boil, then remove and stir in a quarter of a pound of flour; thicken the paste by beating it vigorously over a slow fire until it detaches from the saucepan: pour it into a basin and let get partly cold while stirring about with a spoon. Incorporate six or seven egg-yolks, a quarter of a pound of grated parmesan and two ounces of butter divided in small pats, adding them all very slowly without ceasing to stir. At the last moment work in five beaten-up egg-whites, and lastly two or three spoonfuls of good whipped cream. With this preparation fill a buttered souffle pan (Fig. 182) two-thirds full, lay it on a small baking sheet and cook for twenty-five minutes in a slow oven. This quantity is sufficient for eight persons.

← No. 2982 Souffle, Creamy, with Cheese Macaroni, Rice & Farinaceous No. 2984 Souffle with Swiss Cheese →

For the Modern Kitchen

This is a panade-based soufflé — essentially a stiff choux paste enriched with yolks and cheese, then lightened with whites and cream. It is far sturdier than a béchamel soufflé and will hold its rise longer, but the folding at the end is where it succeeds or fails.

The hinge: fold, do not workThe original says to "work in" the beaten whites, which reads more violently than it should. The paste is heavy, so lighten it first with a spoonful of the whites beaten in properly, then fold the remainder and the whipped cream in with a spatula in as few strokes as will combine them.
A gillHalf a cup, 4 fl oz. With 4 oz of flour and 2 oz of butter this is choux paste by another name — expect it to ball up and pull cleanly from the pan in a minute or two of hard beating.
Weigh the flourA quarter pound is 4 oz, about a scant cup of all-purpose flour by volume. Cup measures vary enough here to matter; the paste depends on the ratio to the water.
Whole peppersThese are whole peppercorns, put in to flavor the water. The recipe never says to remove them, but they would presumably be strained or fished out before the flour goes in; leaving them in gives someone at the table a bad moment.
Slow oven300–325°F. A soufflé this dense benefits from the lower end; 25 minutes in a deep dish may not be enough, so judge by a set, well-browned top with only a slight tremor at the center.
Parmesan and saltA quarter pound of grated Parmesan is salty on its own. Salt the water lightly and taste the paste before the whites go in, when you still can.
The soufflé panThe souffle pan -- The recipe calls for a buttered souffle pan (Fig. 182). Any straight-sided dish of about 1 1/2 quarts works; butter it thoroughly and fill two-thirds, as written, so the rise has somewhere to go.
ServingEight, as stated, as a course rather than a main dish. Carry it to the table directly from the oven — a choux-based soufflé settles more slowly than most, but it still settles.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer published The Epicurean in 1894 after decades as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and the book's farinaceous chapter runs through souffles the way a professional kitchen would: a sequence of near-identical formulas varied only by the cheese or the base, so a cook could produce whichever the order called for. The neighboring entries for Swiss cheese and "creamy" cheese souffle make the system plain. Building a savory souffle on a cooked flour-and-butter paste rather than a thin white sauce is a long-established French method, and such a paste is generally reckoned to hold its height better than a thin sauce base. Parmesan appears often in the period's hotel cookery, prized for grating dry and for a savor strong enough to survive being diluted by the five whipped whites and the cream.