July 14 is Bastille Day. In France, the holiday is a time for coming together with friends and family, but for Australians it’s a chance to gently tip a hat to another nation’s past while enjoying some classic Gallic cuisine and accompanying wine. And there’s arguably no French dish quite as iconic as the souffle.
Timothy Menger, head chef at Melbourne restaurant Entrecote, says while it may be summer in France right now, there are few things as appealing in an Australian winter as a French cheese and cream savoury souffle.
“We use goat’s cheese with a little bit of Gruyere through it,” says Menger. “But one of the great joys of this recipe is you can change it into a blue cheese, or emphasise the heavier dark cheese like a Gruyere, emmental or those sorts of cheeses.”
Menger says the secret to souffle is to prepare it the day before.
“That way the souffle sets just a little bit better,” he says. “If you’re having a dinner party with friends, you want to be talking to [them] not standing in the kitchen.”
The dish is surprisingly simple – just don’t rush it to the table. “You’re basically just making a roux, adding the milk, then putting the yolks through to give it richness,” he says. “Let that mixture cool a bit and then you can add in the whipped egg whites. Pour that into your moulds, put it in the oven in the bain marie, making sure it’s covered, and cook it for about 15–20 minutes until they’re ready to go.”
Leaving the dish to cool overnight then reheating it will save both time and prevent any disappointing deflations.
Of course one must pair a fine French dish with French wine. An easy method of choosing a bottle off the shelf is those marked “Vin De France,” a [category] designed to encompass wines produced within the borders of France, rather than those beholden to a specific region or appellation.
When pairing Menger tries to “look for yin and yang” – something to balance out the innate savoury creaminess of the souffle. He says a French chardonnay like Tussock Jumper would work well as its zingy acidity and stone fruit flavours would help cut through the richness, while still emphasising the indulgent cheese flavours. If using a softer-flavoured cheese, you could lean towards the gentle fruit and soft tannins of a grenache rosé, while more robust cheeses and other additions could call for a pinot noir to balance out.
Menger also likes to pair it with a crisp salad for an ideal counterpoint to the souffle’s silky richness.
“We serve it with parsley, pickled shallots and hazelnuts,” says Menger. “If you wanted to make it a main dish, you’d serve it with something a little bit more robust, like witlof salad or radicchio, and put a bit of pear through that dish as well.”
Here’s how to make Timothy Menger’s twice cooked goat's chevre souffle with apple and hazelnut salad and caramelised honey dressing.
Twice cooked goat's chevre souffle with an apple and hazelnut salad, and caramelised honey dressing
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 30-40 minutes (30 minutes cooking, 10 minutes re-heating if made in advance)
Serves 6
Ingredients:
For the souffle:
100g unsalted butter
100g plain flour
600ml milk
100g Gruyere, grated
1 sprig thyme, chopped
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
4 whole eggs, separated
2 extra egg whites
175g chevre goat's cheese, crumbled
For the Gruyere cream:
100ml thickened cream
50g Gruyere
Black pepper to season
For the apple and hazelnut salad:
50g hazelnuts, roasted and peeled
1 Granny Smith apple, julienned
3 sprigs flat leaf parsley, picked and washed
For the dressing:
100g honey
30ml white wine vinegar
50ml hazelnut oil
Black pepper and salt to season
Method:
To cook the souffle, preheat oven to 175°C. Gently melt butter in saucepan, then fold in flour and cook for 5 minutes. In another saucepan, add thyme to milk and gently heat on stove. Slowly add the warm milk to the flour and butter stirring constantly with a whisk until thickened. Remove from heat and cool for 5 minutes. Take a little more butter and generously grease 6 souffle ramekins.
Add to the saucepan the Gruyere, goat’s cheese and the 4 egg yolks and mix together until smooth. In a separate dry bowl, whisk all egg whites to medium peaks. Fold whipped egg whites into the cheese mix, a third at a time, being very gentle with the last third of egg whites. Spoon mix into ramekins until almost full. Place the ramekins into a deep baking tray (bain marie) and pour boiling water into the tray until the moulds are ¾ submerged. Bake uncovered for 25–30 minutes till souffles rise and are brown on top and a skewer comes out clean. Cool in ramekins.
To make the Gruyere cream, boil the cream and add the Gruyere. Season with fresh black pepper.
To make the dressing, put honey in a small saucepan and cook until a dark caramel. Add vinegar to stop coking and whisk. Add oil and season with black pepper and salt.
To serve, preheat oven to 200°C. Invert the souffles out into 6 oven-proof dishes. Spoon over the Gruyere cream evenly between the 6 souffles. Bake for 10 minutes and finish under the grill for extra colour. Dress the salad with the honey dressing and place salad with souffle. Spoon over the remaining honey dressing and serve.
This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Vin De France the national classification of French wine varietals that celebrate ‘Liberty, Quality, Creativity’.
