In cooking souffles and mousses it must be borne in
mind that if baked, the oven door must be very care-
fully handled when opened to inspect the dish, for
if opened too soon, or worse still if banged, the
souffle is all but certain to be spoiled by the shock ;
if it, or a mousse, is steamed, the lid must not be
lifted more than once at the most. In this latter
case the best plan is, about ten minutes after the
mould has been set in the bain-marie or pan, to lift
the lid of the latter very slowly and gently, and
inspect it carefully. If it is rising slowly and
r
66
ENTRIES.
evenly it is all right, and may be safely left to take
care of itself; if on the contrary, it has by then
risen well up in the paper band it is rising too fast
and will infallibly fall and toughen when turned out
The right way is to stand the case containing the
souffle or mousse in a pan on a doubly folded sheet
of paper, pouring boilin6 water round it to three
parts the height of the souffle case, and carefully
laying a sheet of buttered paper over the souffle
before putting on the lid of the outside pan, to
prevent the steam condensing on this lid from
falling back on to the mixture and so making it
uneven and holey ; the surrounding water after
being brought to the boil is kept at a gentle simmer
till the souffle is cooked. If this water should by
any chance boil up sharply the chances are it will
boil over on to the souffle, which will in that case
either curdle, or else will boil itself, when it will go
into holes and become sodden. The reason for the
paper under the souffle case is that as no water can
get under the pan, the bottom surface of the souffle
(which will later on be the top) would toughen and
harden from the direct heat under it. (This point
is only too often overlooked with all steamed
dishes.)
Next, after souffles and mousses, come creams,
a trifle more solid than the former, but still
lighter than the quenelle, which also belongs to
this branch of cookery. For creams you increase
the proportion of pulped meat to the foundation
sauce or panade, atoning for this by an extra
quantity of cream or egg yolks. For fib. of
SOUFFLES, MOUSSES, &c. .67
4
carefully pulped raw meat (it rpnst be raw for
tliis) you allow a gill of foundation sauce or
panade, and half a pint of cream (which may be
either the thick separated cream sold in little jugs,
or double cream whipped till it thickens, but with-
out standing up in points, as stiffly frothed cream
will do), and two whole unbeaten eggs, as, unlike
souffles and mousses, the cream must not be spongy,
but perfectly smooth in texture like a custard, how-
ever light it may (and, indeed, must) be. The
moulds used for this mixture must be well buttered,
never more than three-quarters filled, and both
covered with, and stood on a buttered jDaper, whilst
the cooking must be carefully watched. In the case
of all these light steamed mixtures it is well to cook a
tiny portion first to see if you have really got the
proportions right, as this saves disappointment later.
Like souffles, &c., creams are cooked when the centre
feels firm on being touched with the finger.✪ Quenelle
Page 32 · 1 recipe record on this page
Presented as published in 1901. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
In cooking souffles and mousses it must be borne in mind that if baked, the oven door must be very carefully handled when opened to inspect the dish, for if opened too soon, or worse still if banged, the souffle is all but certain to be spoiled by the shock ; if it, or a mousse, is steamed, the lid must not be lifted more than once at the most. In this latter case the best plan is, about ten minutes after the mould has been set in the bain-marie or pan, to lift the lid of the latter very slowly and gently, and inspect it carefully. If it is rising slowly and
r
evenly it is all right, and may be safely left to take care of itself; if on the contrary, it has by then risen well up in the paper band it is rising too fast and will infallibly fall and toughen when turned out The right way is to stand the case containing the souffle or mousse in a pan on a doubly folded sheet of paper, pouring boiling water round it to three parts the height of the souffle case, and carefully laying a sheet of buttered paper over the souffle before putting on the lid of the outside pan, to prevent the steam condensing on this lid from falling back on to the mixture and so making it uneven and holey ; the surrounding water after being brought to the boil is kept at a gentle simmer till the souffle is cooked. If this water should by any chance boil up sharply the chances are it will boil over on to the souffle, which will in that case either curdle, or else will boil itself, when it will go into holes and become sodden. The reason for the paper under the souffle case is that as no water can get under the pan, the bottom surface of the souffle (which will later on be the top) would toughen and harden from the direct heat under it. (This point is only too often overlooked with all steamed dishes.)
Next, after souffles and mousses, come creams, a trifle more solid than the former, but still lighter than the quenelle, which also belongs to this branch of cookery. For creams you increase the proportion of pulped meat to the foundation sauce or panade, atoning for this by an extra quantity of cream or egg yolks. For 1 lb. of
carefully pulped raw meat (it must be raw for this) you allow a gill of foundation sauce or panade, and half a pint of cream (which may be either the thick separated cream sold in little jugs, or double cream whipped till it thickens, but without standing up in points, as stiffly frothed cream will do), and two whole unbeaten eggs, as, unlike souffles and mousses, the cream must not be spongy, but perfectly smooth in texture like a custard, however light it may (and, indeed, must) be. The moulds used for this mixture must be well buttered, never more than three-quarters filled, and both covered with, and stood on a buttered paper, whilst the cooking must be carefully watched. In the case of all these light steamed mixtures it is well to cook a tiny portion first to see if you have really got the proportions right, as this saves disappointment later. Like souffles, &c., creams are cooked when the centre feels firm on being touched with the finger.
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