The origin story of my irrational obsession with soufflés traces back to my Funcle (“fun uncle”) Chachi, who for some reason taught me how to prepare this sublime amalgam of puffy, eggy cheesiness when I was in my early twenties.
I didn't even know how to cook rice back then, but my uncle Chachi — textbook bon vivant and de facto family gourmand — one fateful day decided that I should know how to make a soufflé. And thanks to his revelatory flash of mentorship and the impromptu cooking lesson that ensued, I experienced the joy of culinary alchemy that happens when time, space, flavor and intention meet up and dance.
You see, my uncle’s soufflé was more than a new dish for me. It was molecular magic. It was a phenomenon of unexpected physics and stealthy aromatherapy. It was gravity gone gastronomical, and to my young mind at the time, nothing less than a perfect thing.
So, after recently experimenting with variations on soufflés using wild-caught seafood, and revitalizing my love for this unique egg-centric dish, I have decided to take my inspirational cues for 2021 directly from — you guessed it — a soufflé. Here’s my logic:
- Be Here Now — “A soufflé waits for no one,” proclaimed my uncle Chachi. Once it comes out of the oven, puffed tall like an umami exhale blown from the gods of flavor, it won’t remain standing for long. It commands immediate attention and as such, teaches us to pounce on perfect moments, to celebrate synchronization.
- Celebrate Sweet Spots — Not unlike the urgency described above, soufflés also have a perfect sweet spot of egg-white-whisking-to-folding-
bechamel-to-flavor ratio that will lend to its ultimate result. To master the nuance of this relationship is, in my opinion, to know a certain type of peace.
- Aim for Structural Integrity — When cooked correctly, soufflés have the culinary equivalent of core strength. They emerge from the oven, softly structured and jiggling with confidence, the perfect flavor-to-physics balance expressed in full breakfast-flavored glory.
- Keep it Light But Stay Deep — The soufflé’s star ingredient (air!) is invisible, but thanks to this key variable, the dish earns its place as an optimal “light” meal to enjoy any time of day. It knows how to stay relaxed even in the face of its own rigid standards. BUT, the soufflé’s inherent airiness is never at the expense of its deep flavor, and when done right, it’s the perfect tension of lightness (through consistency) and intensity (through flavor).
- Face Failure with Practice — Honor the soufflé, but do not, I repeat, do not let a deflated soufflé stop you from the pursuit of mastery (or even from eating a deflated soufflé).
- Invite Innovation — My uncle initially taught me to make a classic cheese soufflé, featuring a nice gruyère. But two decades later, whilst I’m hunkered down in Alaska and thinking deeply about all things food, there’s been a full-fledged soufflé rebirth in my kitchen — and this time around, wild-caught seafood is the unabashed star.
Pictured above: My attempt at a spot prawn soufflé, an improvised homage to my beloved uncle, and to the simple joy of sharing food as a constant currency of love.
To make the prawn soufflé, I essentially followed this recipe for seafood soufflé, with a few tweaks: instead of salmon, I used our spot prawns — simply steamed a pack of them (thawed and peeled) with just a little salt and thinly sliced each one. For the soft cheese, I used goat cheese (but I’m pretty sure you can use whatever cheese you like) I added dried parsley and tarragon (only because it’s what I had, but again, you can get creative with your herbs and spices). Happy feasting!
