THE PLEASURE OF EATING
What goes up must come down - but at least they're tasty
PRISNA BOONSINSUKH
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| Chocolate souffle's. |
Lime souffle's. |
Gruyere and Parmesan souffle's. |
Frozen apricot souffle's. |
It is always gratifying to realise that you have done something just at the right time. I retired from the rat race when the skyline of Bangkok began to resemble a pin cushion, with ever taller buildings jabbing down into the uneven surfaces. It meant a world of vertical existence and elevator (lift) dependence. It did not mar my fascination with skyscraper architecture, but it brought home a new recognition that my awe and admiration were only very detached, that of looking at it and not of living in it. To stand in front of a bank of elevators in a busy office highrise, eying the crowd surreptitiously while angling for a better position to insert yourself as fast as possible into an impatiently awaited car is, to me, a very demeaning act.
It is not that I do not appreciate the services of elevators to mankind as a whole. They are really marvellous pieces of engineering. And there are people like James Fortune, a designer of elevator systems, whose retirement lasted only two weeks because the demand for elevator consultancy worldwide was so great that the new company he started is now one of the busiest and best known. As of the writing by Nick Paumgarten of an article about elevators in The New Yorker in April, James Fortune did Burj Dubai, which, when it is completed in 2009, will be the new tallest building in the world. Burj Dubai will have 55 elevators, including two double-deckers.
Compared to most other kinds of conveyance, vertical or otherwise, the lift's safety record is quite impressive, as cited in this statistic: "In New York City, home to 58,000 elevators, there are 11 billion elevator trips a year - 30 million every day - and yet hardly more than two dozen passengers get banged up enough to seek medical attention." The people in the elevator business are as active and scientific as you could wish. They make non-stop study into every aspect of their products, not just the structure of the elevator, but in relation to time, space and human behaviour. They have their own industrial metrics of efficiency. Handling capacity should be to carry about 13 per cent of the building population in five minutes, with interval time of below 30 seconds, for instance. Innovation is also at the forefront of development. There are now "smart elevators" operating a destination dispatch system in use in many big cities. This is where each passenger enters the floor number at a central control panel in the building lobby and is told which lift to take to go straight there non-stop.
Still, Paumgarten lamented that "while anthems have been written to jet travel, locomotives, and the lure of the open road, the poetry of vertical transportation is scant. What is there to say, besides that it goes up and down?"
You could say the same about souffle's, which are notorious mainly for going down rather than up. But there is no lack of literature about souffle's. In fact, more than enough has been written about the stubborn refusal to go up and the shameful eagerness to come down of a souffle' to discourage most home cooks from even giving it a try. Which is a great pity because the reality is not all that terrifying and the results are often more than worth the little trouble taken. Having said that I must first, as a save-face measure, state that to photograph a souffle' without the artificial aids employed by professional chefs and photographers is a daunting task. Many a souffle' has collapsed in less travelling distance than from my downstairs kitchen to the upstairs photo set. Nevertheless, two sweet souffle's and a savoury one made the trip fairly successfully. A frozen souffle' is appended for the more faint hearted, as frozen souffle's are guaranteed non-collapsible.
The basic structure of any souffle' is an egg yolk plus flavour base, puffed up by well-beaten egg whites, so a gentle but thorough folding skill is required to construct a light-as-air mixture. The oven should be quite hot to encourage steady rising, and a watchful eye to snatch it out at the moment of peak elevation and also peak moistness within. An overbaked souffle' is just a dryish pudding of no distinction. My chocolate souffle' is a classic of its kind and delivers a heavenly melt-in-the-mouth sensation. The lime souffle' invites you to dig deep as it contains a tangy dollop of lime curd in the bottom of each cup. The Gruyere and Parmesan souffle' makes a bold first course if you can command your guests to sit down at table at the precise moment. For the frozen apricot souffle', you need to make a paper collar around the dish or individual ramekins to contain the fluffy mixture. The unveiling at serving time will show a tower of speckled white mixture rising in the air like magic.
Chocolate souffle's
To serve 6
Ingredients:
10g unsalted butter, melted, to grease
60g caster sugar, divided
30g unsalted butter
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
200ml milk
6eggs, separated
150g dark semi-sweet chocolate, melted
Preparation:
1. Preheat the oven to 200C/fan 180C. Place a baking tray in the oven to heat at the same time. Brush six 200ml-capacity ramekins with melted butter. Sprinkle with some sugar to coat; shake out excess.
2. Melt butter in a saucepan until foaming. Add flour, cook, stirring until mixture is smooth and bubbles. Remove from heat and gradually stir in milk. Return to heat, cook, stirring, until mixture boils and thickens. Transfer to a bowl. Stir in the remaining sugar, two egg yolks* and chocolate.
3. Beat six egg whites until stiff peaks form. Stir one-quarter of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Fold in the rest. Spoon mixture into prepared ramekins, leaving 1/2in (1cm) below rim. Gently tap base of each ramekin on work surface to remove air pockets. Smooth tops; place on hot baking tray. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until puffed. Serve right away, with cream if desired.
Refrigerate unused egg yolks in an airtight container for up to three days. Or make custard using the recipe below.
Lime souffle's
To serve 6
Ingredients:
10g unsalted butter, melted, to grease
5 Tbsp caster sugar
30g unsalted butter
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
125ml milk
4eggs, separated
1 tsp fine grated lime rind
2 Tbsp lime juice
60g lime or lemon curd
Preparation:
1. Preheat the oven to 200C/fan 180C. Place a baking tray in the oven to heat at the same time. Brush six 175ml-capacity ramekins with melted butter. Sprinkle with some sugar to coat; shake out excess.
2. Melt butter in a saucepan until foaming. Add flour, cook, stirring until mixture is smooth and bubbles. Remove from heat and gradually stir in milk. Return to heat, cook, stirring, until mixture boils and thickens. Transfer to a bowl. Stir in the remaining sugar, two egg yolks, lime rind and lime juice.
3. Beat four egg whites until stiff peaks form. Stir one-quarter of the egg whites into the lime mixture. Fold in the rest. Spoon two teaspoons lime curd into each ramekin. Top with mixture, leaving 1/2in (1cm) below rim. Gently tap base of each ramekin on work surface to remove air pockets. Smooth tops; place on hot baking tray. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes or until light golden and puffed. Serve right away.
Gruyere and Parmesan souffle's
To serve 6
Ingredients:
10g unsalted butter, melted, to grease
2 Tbsp dried breadcrumbs
30g unsalted butter
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
200ml milk
90g Gruyere, finely grated
40g Parmesan, finely grated
1 Tbsp Italian parsley, finely chopped
6eggs, separated
Preparation:
1. Preheat the oven to 200C/fan 180C. Place a baking tray in the oven to heat at the same time. Brush six 375ml-capacity ramekins with melted butter. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs to coat; shake out excess.
2. Melt butter in a saucepan until foaming. Add flour, cook, stirring until mixture is smooth and bubbles. Remove from heat and gradually stir in milk. Return to heat, cook, stirring, until mixture boils and thickens. Transfer to a bowl. Stir in Gruyere, Parmesan, parsley, and four egg yolks.
3. Beat six egg whites until stiff peaks form. Stir one-quarter of the egg whites into the cheese mixture. Fold in the rest. Spoon mixture into each ramekin until three-quarters full. Gently tap base of each ramekin on work surface to remove air pockets. Smooth tops; place on hot baking tray. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown and puffed. Serve right away.
Frozen apricot souffle's
To serve 6
Ingredients:
115g dried apricots
125ml water
100g sugar
3large egg whites (about 90 to 100g)
250ml whipping cream
1/8 tsp almond extract
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
Preparation
1. Wrap a collar of parchment paper or foil around six 200ml-capacity ramekins to extend 2in (5cm) above rim of dish and secure with kitchen string.
2. Simmer apricots with water in a saucepan, covered, until very tender. Drain, reserving cooking liquid. Pure' apricots in a food processor (mixture will not be completely smooth), then transfer to a bowl.
3. Cook sugar with reserved cooking liquid in a saucepan until sugar has dissolved. Boil, without stirring, until syrup registers 119C, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile beat egg whites until they just hold stiff peaks. While continuing to beat, gradually pour hot syrup into whites (be careful not to let syrup touch beaters, or it will spatter and harden), then continue to beat until meringue has cooled to room temperature, about five minutes.
4. Beat cream with extracts in another bowl using cleaned beaters until it just holds soft peaks. Whisk about 1/3 of meringue into apricot pure' to lighten, then fold in remaining meringue. Fold whipped cream into apricot mixture gently but thoroughly, then spoon into prepared ramekins, smoothing tops. Cover surface with clingfilm and freeze until firm, at least eight hours. Let souffls' stand at room temperature to soften slightly before serving. Remove collar and dust top of souffls' with cocoa powder and icing sugar, if desired.
Custard
To make about 500ml
Ingredients:
500ml whipping cream
4egg yolks
65g caster sugar
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
Preparation:
Bring cream to the boil in a saucepan. Whisk yolks and sugar in a bowl until thick and creamy. Gradually whisk in hot cream. Return mixture to rinsed pan. Cook on low heat, stirring, until custard thickens slightly.
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