Open the oven door and, with trepidation, you wonder: will it deflate? The soufflé has always been the most feared preparation, which can give great satisfaction and as many failures. In order to keep it well "swollen" the secret lies in the preparation of the mold and in the cooking, sweet and controlled
Cross and delight of cooks of all times, it has always been a test bench for even the most expert.
At first it was just an omelette: omelettes. Then an unknown gastronomic genius had the inspiration to inflate it: omelette soufflée (from the French souffler, to blow). In short, the new preparation was simply called soufflé. The story of the adjective that becomes a name speaks volumes about the charm of this dish, which enchants not so much for its substance as for its shape.
The origins
Around the middle of the seventeenth century, as Le Cuisinier françois of La Varenne attests, the effect of heat on whipped egg whites was already known, but we must wait for Le Cuisinier moderne by La Chapelle (1742) to find the first soufflé omelette, a base of veal kidney, whipped cream, egg yolks and egg whites. At the end of the century the soufflé was already widespread in France and in the rest of Europe in sweet and savory variants, while notoriety and prestige continued to grow throughout the nineteenth century.
An unstoppable rise
The fragility of the soufflé itself decreed its success and made it the object of intrepid culinary experimentation. It reached the peak of popularity with the famous chef Antonin Carême (1784- 1833), who codified the types and presented it in individual portions, able to guarantee an excellent success. In Italy it became blown or soufflet, as Artusi called it, who proposed six versions, five sweet and one salty. Alletta, but does not feed: it is perhaps for this reason that it is not found in Italian regional cookbooks, except in only two appearances, in Trentino and in Tuscany. At the center of attention of the great cooks of the Belle Époque, it has reached the present day, renewing its amazement every time.
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Salty or sweet, at the base that you want to "blow" you add the béchamel, egg yolks and finally whipped egg whites. The air particles contained in them, in contact with the heat of the oven, expand, doubling the starting volume.
Follow our advice and all the preparation steps.
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