Name: Virginia Ross
\nClass Year: 1966
\nCountry of Residence: UK<\/p>\n
In the summer of 1965 Ruth Lawson arranged an internship for me with Britain in Europe<\/em>, a political pressure group in London. My lodgings were owned by fascinating Russian \u00e9migr\u00e9s – a delightful downstairs neighbour had been a friend of Anna Pavlova, the Russian prima ballerina.<\/p>\n As an 80th<\/sup> birthday supper surprise for my neighbour, I bought a crab from a Saturday outdoor market and, not knowing what to do with it, searched for a cookbook. Luckily in a local bookshop I stumbled upon Summer Cooking<\/em>, by Elizabeth David, \u201cBritain\u2019s first lady of food\u201d, as I discovered. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Elizabeth David \u201cled British cooking from the greyness of austerity to an exotic world of fresh herbs and garlic\u201d, beginning with The Book of Mediterranean Food, <\/em>published 1950. French Country Cooking<\/em> (1951) and Italian Food<\/em> (1954) quickly followed, giving enthusiasts, weary of war-time rationing, \u201cexotic delights such as moules marieni\u00e8res and fettuccine with fresh tomato sauce\u201d.<\/p>\n Elizabeth David made cooking fun, not a tyranny of measurements, by getting to know and grow herbs and by using a handful of this and a pinch of that. Summer Cooking <\/em>uses \u201cseasonal meat and vegetable ingredients to make dishes for table, buffet or picnic: salmi of duck, raspberry water ice, sole au vert, zuppa ebrea, cockle soup, apricot cheese\u201d \u2013 and crab souffl\u00e9!<\/p>\n My little crab introduced me to a new way of cooking and provided a delicious treat to celebrate my neighbour\u2019s 80th<\/sup> birthday – which also included inevitable vodka shots and magical Russian ballet tales.<\/p>\n Serves 4 Takes approx. one hour<\/em><\/p>\n Ingredients:<\/span><\/p>\n Equivalent measurements: 1 oz. = 28.5 gms; 1 pint = 568 mls; a dessertspoon = 6 gms<\/em><\/p>\n Conversion: 284 mls milk; 18 gms flour; 56 ml cream; 28.5 gms butter; 57 gms parmesan<\/em><\/p>\n Instructions:<\/span><\/p>\n Make a thick b\u00e9chamel sauce with butter, flour, and heated milk. Add all the meat extracted from the shell and claws of the crab. Stir in the cheese. Season fairly highly. Add the cream, then the beaten yolks of the eggs. Heat over the flame, stirring all the time, but do not allow to boil after the eggs have been added. Leave to cool. Immediately before the souffl\u00e9 is to be cooked, stir in the four beaten whites. Fill a buttered souffl\u00e9 dish with the mixture to within an inch of the top. Put in top of Gas mark 8 oven (preheated for at least 10 minutes. Cook for about 15 minutes.<\/p>\n You can nearly always tell when a souffl\u00e9 is ready by the smell which comes from the oven. Unfortunately the perfect-looking souffl\u00e9, with that blown-up crust on the top almost separated from the rest of the dish, is not usually the perfect souffl\u00e9 inside; by the time the top of the souffl\u00e9 has risen that much, the inside is usually too dry. So it is best to be content with a slightly less spectacular look and have the inside of the soufl\u00e9 still a little creamy.<\/p>\n The extra white in this souffl\u00e9 make it rise well and quickly; the cream helps it to remain moist.<\/p>\n A nice way to serve a souffl\u00e9 is to cook it in small dishes, one for each person. Special small souffl\u00e9 dishes are not necessary; any little fireproof dishes, about 2 inches deep, will do.<\/p>\n Experiment to find out the correct timing \u2013 this is essential. Every oven is different and much also depends on the size of the dish. A small souffl\u00e9 for one person takes about 6 or 7 minutes.<\/p>\n Source:<\/span><\/p>\n Summer Cooking<\/em>, Elizabeth David, Penguin, 1965<\/p>\n With acknowledgements to: Rachel Cooke (2013), \u2018The enduring legacy of Elizabeth David, Britain’s first lady of food\u2019, The Observer<\/em>, 8 December. https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/lifeandstyle\/2013\/dec\/08\/elizabeth-david-first-lady-of-food<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Name: Virginia Ross Class Year: 1966 Country of Residence: UK Why is this recipe great? What\u2019s its backstory? In the summer of 1965 Ruth Lawson arranged an internship for me … Continue reading Crab Souffl\u00e9<\/span> Crab Souffl\u00e9<\/h5>\n
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