Chocolate soufflé à la Joël Robuchon

I’ve been admiring the chocolate soufflé at work for almost a year now.

I first had it in mid-January.

It was my second day on my new job at Robuchon. I was cleaning down and keeping to myself when my sous chef called me over. She insisted that I try their chocolate soufflé. She said it was one of her favourites.

She pulled two black ramekins from the oven and placed them on a plate with two scoops of vanilla ice cream.

The first time I ever tried our chocolate souffle.

They had risen beautifully. The surface was smooth and even.

They were the most beautiful soufflés I had ever seen.

She passed me a spoon and told me to go ahead.

I looked around at my co-workers who were cleaning down. No one paid the slightest attention to the perfection that had just come out of the oven.

“Um..does anyone else want some?” I asked shyly.

“No la, all for you. Just eat ah.” My sous chef insisted.

I dug in, embarrassed that I was the only one eating this gorgeous soufflé.

Sometimes there are certain foods that never really interest us until we eat that one version of it that changes our mind completely.

This soufflé was it for me.

Each spoonful dissolved on my lips like the tiny micro bubbles of a good cappuccino. The chocolate was intense and profound. I quickly found myself no longer shy about eating it, but rather grateful that I didn’t have to share. Halfway through there was even a surprise. A touch of melted chocolate and pleasant contrasting crunch of crispy pearls. I went home that day and tried to explain the mini epiphany to a very jealous Bruce.

That soufflé, along with everything else I had seen during my first week at work had me very excited for the rest of the year.

Throughout my time here, I’m always intrigued to see service carry out whenever a soufflé is ordered.

The whizzing of the mixer, the delicate folding. It all happens à la minute and it happens quickly and almost effortlessly.

Our pastry kitchen is divided into two teams. There are the guys who complete both lunch and dinner service for the restaurant. They do the plated desserts and the petit fours. Then there is the team that produces everything for the Salon de Thé. The entremets, petit gateaux, the orders, the hightea sets, and even some mise en place for the restaurant team. I was and still am, in the latter team. I love it- it truly gives me the best of both worlds.

I get to learn more about producing for a boutique, something I just grazed during my time at Genin. I’ve learned about how components come together in a seemingly simple but beautiful petit gateaux while helping prepare components that will come together on a stunning plate.

For the soufflé, we have a chocolate one as well as one with an egg yolk in it. Without a doubt, the chocolate one is the favourite among customers. The egg yolk one is sublime with a single, runny Japanese egg in the middle, but chocolate is the one everyone orders.

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned during my time here is the elegance of simplicity and the mastery it takes to achieve that.

Perfection!

Our soufflés are the perfect example.

I must have posted at least a few photos of them on Facebook, and every time I do, there is at least one person who messages me asking for the recipe.

But similar to the macaron, there is no secret recipe. Macarons are made up of powdered sugar, granulated sugar, ground almonds and egg whites.

Soufflés are nothing more than egg whites, granulated sugar, sometimes egg yolk and a pastry cream base. Our chocolate one only has egg whites, sugar and chocolate.

Both soufflés and macarons need only a few simple steps, but their success requires the precise execution of each of those steps. It is the attention to detail that make them outstanding, and much more than just whipped egg whites.

On a not too busy lunch service last week, I asked Chef if I could spend a few minutes just watching the soufflé get picked up. There was a rare moment of quiet in the kitchen for both teams, and I wanted to really take note of the process.

I helped D scale out the egg whites and sugar as he put the pre-measured Valrhona pistoles in the bain marie. His English is horrible, so I simply watched him intently.

I love watching people do what they’re good at. With maybe close to a hundred soufflés worth of experience in his belt, D is certainly good at what he does. There were no wasted movements as he buttered the ramekin, whipped the whites just so and controlled the temperature of the chocolate as he brought them together.

In about 12 minutes, the soufflé came out perfectly and was instantly swooped up by a server as it went out with a scoop of mandarin sorbet.

Now whenever I see a photo of a soufflé from anywhere else, it just doesn’t compare to how ours look. Some of them don’t have that much height. The tops are bumpy and uneven, or they tend to just fall to the side, as if given up the pursuit of rising to the top.

But even so, it makes me realize that taste will always prevail. A customer can forgive, or might not even notice a soufflé that isn’t “perfect”. The only thing that matters is that it tastes wonderful and makes them happy. Because that’s what its all about.

Whenever I go by the dishpit to retrieve our clean baking trays and mixing bowls, it’s a habit for me to always take a look at the plates that come back. I like to see what people enjoyed the most, which components they will usually leave untouched.

The soufflé ramekins always come back empty.