THE CHEMISTRY OF COOKERY. 687 



the cheese is not intermingled with the egg, lest it should spoil the ap- 

 pearance of the unbroken yolks, its casein is made leathery instead of 

 being dissolved, and the substitution of sixpenny worth of double 

 cream for a halfpenny worth of milk supplies the high-class victim 

 with fivepence halfpenny worth of biliary derangement. 



In Gouffe's "Royal Cookery-Book" (the Household Edition of 

 which contains a great deal that is really useful to an English house- 

 wife) I find a better recipe under the name of cheese souffles. He says : 

 "Put two and one fourth ounces of flour in a stewpan, with one and 

 a half pint of milk ; season with salt and pepper ; stew over the fire 

 till boiling, and, should there be any lumps, strain the souffle paste 

 through a tammy-cloth ; add seven ounces of grated Parmesan cheese, 

 and seven yolks of eggs ; whip the whites till they are firm, and add 

 them to the mixture ; fill some paper cases with it, and bake in the 

 oven for fifteen minutes." 



Cre-Fydd says : " Grate six ounces of rich cheese (Parmesan is the 

 best) ; put it into an enameled saucepan, with a teaspoonful of flour 

 of mustard, a saltspoonful of white pepper, a grain of cayenne, the 

 sixth part of a nutmeg, grated, two ounces of butter, two tablespoon- 

 fuls of baked flour, and a gill of new milk ; stir it over a slow fire till it 

 becomes like smooth, thick cream (but it must not boil) ; add the 

 well-beaten yolks of six eggs, beat for ten minutes, then add the whites 

 of the eggs beaten to a stiff froth ; put the mixture into a tin or a card- 

 board mold, and bake in a quick oven for twenty minutes. Serve im- 

 mediately." 



Here is a true cookery of cheese by solution, and the result is an 

 excellent dish. But there is some unnecesary complication and kitchen 

 pedantry involved. The following is my own simplified recipe : 



Take one fourth of a pound of grated cheese ; add it to a gill of 

 milk in which is dissolved as much powdered bicarbonate of potash as 

 will stand upon a threepenny-piece ; mustard, pepper, etc., as prescribed 

 above by Cre-Fydd.* Heat this carefully until the cheese is com- 

 pletely dissolved. Then beat up three eggs, yolk and whites together, 

 and add them to this solution of cheese, stirring the whole. Now take 

 a shallow metal or earthenware dish or tray that will bear heating ; 

 put a little butter on this, aud heat the butter till it frizzles. Then 

 pour the mixture into this, and bake or fry it until it is nearly solidified. 



A cheaper dish may be made by increasing the proportion of cheese 

 say, six to eight ounces to three eggs, or only one egg to a quarter 

 pound of cheese for a hard-working man with powerful digestion. 



The chief difficulty in preparing this dish conveniently is that of 



* Before the Adulteration Act was passed, mustard-flour was usually mixed with well- 

 dried wheaten-flour, whereby the redundant oil was absorbed, and the mixture was a dry 

 powder. Now it is different, being pure powdered mustard-seed, and usually rather 

 damp. It not only lies closer, but is much stronger. Therefore, in following any recipe 

 of old cookery-books, only about half the stated quantity should be used. 



