Grate the cheese powdery fine and mash it together with the cream until fluffy.  Season and serve in a beautiful bowl for dunking in the original style of Savarin, although this is a static imitation of the real thing.

     All kinds of crackers and colorful dips can be used, from celery
     stalks and potato chips to thin paddles cut from Bombay duck.

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Chapter Seven

Souffles, Puffs and Ramekins

There isn’t much difference between Cheese Souffles, Puffs and Ramekins.  The English Encyclopedia of Practical Cookery, the oldest, biggest and best of such works in English, lumps Cheese Puffs and Ramekins together, giving the same recipes for both, although it treats each extensively under its own name when not made with cheese.

Cheese was the basis of the original French Ramequin, cheese and bread crumbs or puff paste, baked in a mold, (with puff again the principal factor in Souffle, from the French souffler, puff up).

 Basic Souffle

3 tablespoons butter or margarine 4 tablespoons flour 1-1/4 cups hot milk, scalded 1 teaspoon salt A dash of cayenne 1/2 cup grated Cheddar cheese, sharp 2 egg yolks, beaten lemon-yellow 2 egg whites, beaten stiff

Melt butter, stir in flour and milk gradually until thick and smooth.  Season and add the cheese, continuing the cooking and slow stirring until velvety.  Remove from heat and let cool somewhat; then stir in the egg yolks with a light hand and an upward motion.  Fold in the stiff whites and when evenly mixed pour into a big, round baking dish. (Some butter it and some don’t.) To make sure the top will be even when baked, run a spoon or knife around the surface, about 1 inch from the edge of the dish, before baking slowly in a moderate oven until puffed high and beautifully browned.  Serve instantly for fear the Souffle may fall.  The baking takes up to an hour and the egg whites shouldn’t be beaten so stiff they are hard to fold in and contain no air to expand and puff up the dish.

To perk up the seasonings, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, nutmeg and even garlic are often used to taste, especially in England.

While Cheddar is the preferred cheese, Parmesan runs it a close second.  Then comes Swiss.  You may use any two or all three of these together.  Sometimes Roquefort is added, as in the Ramekin recipes below.

 Parmesan Souffle

     Make the same as Basic Souffle, with these small modifications in
     the ingredients: 

1 full cup of grated Parmesan 1 extra egg in place of the 1/2 cup of Cheddar cheese A little more butter Black pepper, not cayenne

 Swiss Souffle

     Make the same as Basic Souffle, with these slight changes: 

1-1/4 cups grated Swiss cheese instead of the Cheddar cheese Nutmeg in place of the cayenne