Savory souffles: elegant but simple eggs and cheese

Christine Heriat

June 23, 2024

Savory souffles: elegant simplicity at its finest

I’ve never forgotten my first taste of souffle. It happened shortly after I moved from Los Angeles to San Francisco for my first full-time job. One of my new friends, who had far more disposable income than I did, treated me to dinner at the famed Café Jacqueline. The restaurant embodied classic charm. Its combination of wainscoting, Queen Ann chairs, and a candle chandelier evoked the feeling of being in a grandmother’s dining room. As I perused the menu, I felt a sense of nostalgia, rather than boredom, and a formality that somehow wasn’t stuffy.

The menu consisted solely of souffle variations. Souffles were something I had never seen or tasted, despite growing up in a restaurant kitchen. It was the kind of dish I had only heard of referred to in mythic terms. The finickiness of its rise. Its ability to deflate from mere sounds. I felt intrigued.

The wait after ordering was long–forty-five minutes. Jacqueline, the chef, labored away at each souffle alone, full of concentration despite the diners passing through her compact kitchen. She whipped every egg white alone and by hand. My stomach rumbled. But when the towering mushroom souffle arrived, it was clear it was worth the wait. Its rich yet light taste was a surprise. Those initial bites sparked my lifelong interest in souffles.

Recipe history

Although souffles were likely invented earlier, they made their first documented appearance in La Chapelle’s cookbook, Cuisinier Moderne, in 1742. La Chapelle worked as a chef for France’s aristocracy, including for Madame de Pompadour (King Louis XV’s mistress) with whom he collaborated to invent dishes that paved the path to the French gastronomy we are familiar with today.

In the United States, souffles began showing up regularly on restaurant menus after WWII, reaching the height of their popularity in the 1970s and 1980s. Unfortunately, they have been falling out of favor ever since. It’s a shame, because unlike some other dishes that deserve to be relegated to culinary history (*cough* ambrosia), the appeal of creamy eggs, milk and cheese is timeless. So if souffles aren’t the victims of changing tastes, why is their appeal dropping?

Personally, I think the combination of souffle mythology scaring off home cooks and the challenges of making souffles in a restaurant environment have led to the decline. I’ve made dozens of souffles and never had issues with them failing to rise or falling too fast. They’re always delicious. All of my guests have adored them. The main issue is that souffles are too delicious to have leftovers.

But I can understand how challenging they are for the restaurant environment. The baking time is long, while the patience of hungry diners is short. Souffles need to be cooked alone in the oven. And they don’t lend themselves to waiting under a hot lamp until the food server has time to deliver to deliver them to the table.

Souffles certainly aren’t make-ahead dishes. You can only do two things in advance: prepare the souffle dish and make the sauce bechamel. If you prepare the souffle dish in advance, be sure to store it in the refrigerator. If you make the sauce in advance, store it in the refrigerator and bring it to room temperature before using.

Hands-on time for souffles is short, so the fact that they can’t be made ahead is not an issue. And the undisturbed baking time souffles require gives me the perfect excuse to enjoy a glass of wine or two.

Recipe, tips & tricks

Souffles are surprisingly complex given the simplicity of the ingredients. This recipe uses common ingredients: eggs, butter, milk, flour, cheese, and salt. That’s it.

The way the ingredients are combined sets souffles apart. The egg whites, whipped into a French meringue, are full of air bubbles that expand in the oven’s heat, giving the souffle its light texture and impressive look. The sauce bechamel imparts flavor and richness. By gently folding (not stirring) the two together, you end up with a result that is greater than the sum of its parts.

I have never had any souffle-related disasters or disappointments. However, I have a few tips to help you make a successful souffle.

Grease the dish thoroughly with butter and coat it evenly with fine breadcrumbs or grated parmesan. The souffle needs this surface to rise and to hold itself up. It also makes for a deliciously crunchy exterior that contrasts with souffle’s gooey center.

Achieve maximum stability in the whipped egg whites by using room temperature eggs and adding a pinch of salt during the beating process.

If you don’t have a souffle dish, it’s important to use a straight sided ceramic dish if you want the souffle to rise properly. But if you don’t have a dish like the one listed in the links below, you can still make a souffle. It won’t rise in the same way, but it will still be tasty.

To ensure that your souffle rises to its maximum height and remains stable, consider adding the optional collar described below. After stating that, it’s time for radical honesty. I usually skip this step. I do that because I am satisfied with the rise I get; because I don’t enjoy fiddling with the collar; and because I like the texture of that bit of souffle that sits between the top of the dish and the top of the souffle. I’m a rebel like that.

The sauce bechamel used for the below recipe is a thicker version of the classic sauce. It’s important to use the thicker version because the classic sauce would be too watery for the souffle. A thinner sauce would inhibit the souffle’s rise and lead to a firmer interior.

To make it easier to combine the whipped egg whites with the sauce bechamel, it’s important to lighten the bechamel sauce by first stirring in a small quantity of egg whites. Then fold that mixture into the remaining egg whites gently. No frantic mixing, no excited stirring. Just gentle folding. It’s better for the final dish to have some streaks of white remaining than to be perfectly uniform and utterly deflated. The air bubbles that remain trapped after the last folding step create the characteristic lightness of souffles. Stirring reduces the amount of trapped bubbles far more than folding. That results in a fancy (and tasty) baked omelet, not a souffle.

Another ingredient or shredded cheese can be used instead of cheese in the below recipe. My favorite substitutions, the easiest ones, are mushrooms and crab. You can make both substitutions on a 1:1 weight basis. Dice mushrooms finely, cook until soft and dry, and add salt to compensate for missing cheese’s saltiness. The crab should be dried and chopped into smaller pieces. Remember: large pieces and extra water are the enemies of a good rise. If I don’t have gruyere on hand, I’ll substitute a 50/50 mix of parmesan and mozzarella, or whatever I have on hand that’s similarly dry.

My final tip is to resist the urge to open the oven until it’s time to check the souffle for its “jiggle”. The dramatic change in temperature that results from opening the oven will hurt the souffle’s rise. If you can’t resist babysitting your souffle, instead just turn on your oven light and peek through the small window at your masterpiece. Truly, it’s best to enjoy a glass of wine during the wait.

The below recipe is best served straight out of the oven, accompanied by a simple green salad and a glass of rich white wine. The souffle will deflate as soon as it cools, so don’t wait to dig in. Anyway, after the first bite, you won’t be able to resist having more.

Recipe

Sauce Bechamel

3 tbsp of butter

3 tbsp of flour

1 ¼ cup (300ml) whole milk

¼ of an onion

1 bay leaf

5 egg yolks

1 cup (120g) of shredded gruyere cheese

¼ teaspoon of nutmeg (optional)

2 tbsp of fresh chopped herbs, such as parsley, thyme or chives (optional)

French meringue

6 egg whites

Pinch of salt

Souffle dish

Butter (for greasing)

Grated parmesan or fine plain breadcrumbs (approximately 3-4 tbsp, for greasing)

6 cup (1.5L) souffle dish or similar capacity ceramic dish with straight sides

Parchment paper (optional)

Kitchen string (optional)

Time: 20-30 minutes (active); 60-65 minutes (total)

Makes 4 servings when paired with a side salad

Combine the milk, bay leaf and onion in a small sauce pan and bring to a simmer over medium low heat. Simmer for five minutes, then remove the pan from the heat. Let the milk seep for 10 minutes. Then remove the onion and bay leaf.
Thoroughly grease the souffle dish with butter then add the parmesan and turn the souffle dish until the sides are well coated. Tap the excess parmesan out.
To make the optional collar: cut a length of parchment paper that is at least an inch longer than the circumference of your souffle dish. Cut a long length of kitchen string. Then fold or cut the parchment paper so that it will come 6-8 inches above the top of the souffle dish. Grease and parmesan in the same manner as the souffle dish. Tap the excess parmesan off the parchment paper. Then secure it around the outside of the souffle dish using kitchen string. Refrigerate the dish until ready to fill.
Place an oven rack in the center of the oven and remove any racks that are sitting above it. Preheat to 375F (190C).
Melt the butter in a medium sized frying pan over medium low heat. Once the butter is melted, stir in the flour. Stir continuously for 2-3 minutes, until the mixture is uniform and reaches a pasty consistency. It should no longer smell of flour.
Slowly pour in the milk while stirring. Then whisk until smooth. Continue to whisk or stir constantly, being careful to reach all edges and the entire bottom of the pan, until the sauce reaches the thickness of thick cream soup. This usually takes 4-7 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat.
Stir the egg yolks into the sauce. Then add the cheese, nutmeg (if using), and herbs (if using), and stir to combine. Let the sauce cool while you prepare the egg whites.
Beat egg whites using a stand mixer, handheld mixer, or large whisk until the mixture turns white and has begun to expand. Add a pinch of salt. Then continue beating until stiff but moist peaks form.
Stir 25% of the stiffened egg whites into the sauce to lighten it.
If you’ve used a stand mixer, transfer the remaining egg whites to a large, wide bowl. Pour the lightened sauce down the side of the bowl so that it gently comes into contact with the egg whites from the side, not the top. Fold the ingredients together using a soft rubber spatula, taking care not to deflate the eggs.
Pour the mixture into the prepared souffle dish. Gently tap the dish on the counter to distribute the batter evenly.
Bake for 25-35 minutes, until the souffle has a slight jiggle and the top has browned. Do not open the oven in the first 20 minutes, and ideally wait 25 minutes.
Remove the souffle from the oven, remove the collar, and serve immediately with a green salad.

I also can’t wait to hear what you thought after you made this recipe. I would also love to hear about any other ‘retro’ recipes you would love to see make a comeback.

References and related links