Soufflés: A French Haute Cuisine

The French are known for their elegant couture. It’s amazing to note that the catwalks of its capital Paris, which is dubbed as the world’s fashion hub, are dominated with fabulous and highly-fashionable pieces made from simple materials. Successfully, French ingenuity were extended to their cuisine.

Soufflés are evident culinary masterpiece that reflect creativity and ingenuity of the French. It is a fluffy but light baked dessert made with ordinary ingredients such as egg yolks, beaten egg whites, butter, flour, milk, and cheese. The looks and the procedure of making a soufflé are said to embody the French sophistication and elegance.

The word soufflé is derived from French verb souffler, a verb that means “to blow up” or “puff up”, which actually occurs while baking the dessert. It is basically composed of flavoring base usually puree or cream sauce of cheese of chocolate and beaten egg whites, which allows the dessert to lift.

What makes soufflés as fashionable dessert is the way it is served in different enticing shapes and sizes depending on the creative whims of the baker or chef. Even the way it should fluff has an artistic presentation. Taste-wise, soufflés are more delectable than it looks. It is served in savory sweet, hot, or cold. Aside from being a dessert, it could also be taken as a main dish, where meat, fish, or vegetables are added to the mixture of ingredients. Dessert soufflés, on the other hand, could be done baked, chilled, or frozen.

Like couture, which needs a perfect cut, making the dessert also requires to perfectly follow a sophisticated cooking method, which starts from using squeaky clean mixing equipment especially the ones being used to beat the egg whites such as the mixing bowl and beater. Copper, stainless steel, or glass bowls should also be used in doing the egg beating process. Adding a pinch of cream of tartar and a pinch of salt is also recommended while beating the egg whites. Ensuring that the egg whites wont be over beaten and baking it on the lowest rack of the pre-heated oven should also be done to achieve a smooth and fine crust. Or else it would appear unappetizingly leathery. Refrigerating or freezing buttered dishes and using parchment collar to guide the rise of the soufflé are also part of the works.

Soufflés truly allows one to gastronomically experience the unique French couture in a plate.