Recently the lovely Tony Fleming, Head Chef at No.1 Aldwych, entered a dessert into the Best British Dish - a blackberry soufflé with a blackberry and elderflower granita.
I adore soufflés - I usually order it if I see one on the menu - and find it a very good way of comparing chefs. Technique is rarely the issue, but even in Michelin starred restaurants you find the most extraordinary combination of ingredients. As a result, some soufflés are simply tasteless and mediocre, some are rather nasty, and some absolutely sing.
After the show Tony and I had a rolling conversation conversation about soufflés and compared notes. Tony worked with Marco Pierre White, and I confessed that MPW's Raspberry Soufflé was one of my top two soufflé recipes, both to make at home, and to eat at the restaurant (in this case Mirabelle).
My other favourite is Pierre Koffmann's Pistachio Soufflé, which is just the most delicious thing imaginable. They're both quite different - one is light and delicate, the other is heavily scented and packs a real flavour punch... We discussed the various merits of soufflé recipes, and which chef favoured which combination - Tony has his Blackberry Soufflé on the menu, Le Gavroche has Passion Fruit, The Waterside Inn, a Rhubarb one, Tom Kitchin has a Gingerbread Soufflé, Andre Garrett has Banana, and Alan Murchison has a Dutch Mistress goats cheese soufflé... So many Michelin starred restaurants, so many soufflés!
And so my Soufflé Project was born! I'm going to work my way through all the best soufflé recipes I can find, photograph them, rate the recipes, and the results. Where possible, I will also eat the same dish in the relevant restaurant to see how the home versions compare...
I hope we can get to my favourite soufflé recipes. There will be complicated soufflés, simple ones, iced ones, hot ones, perhaps even savoury ones... Enough to offer a soufflé recipe at all levels. I hope you'll be able to try some of these for yourselves...
Let the soufflé making begin...
