Apricot Soufflé

Apricot Soufflé

from Gourmet Cooking without Meat, Paul Southey, Marshall Cavendish Editions, 1980.

As you can tell from the publishing date this book has been on the shelf at home for some time. Occasionally something has been made from it but it has not had overmuch use. When you look through it today you can see that the recipes have dated somewhat. However, a good recipe does not really age; some of the best meals today are those that have shown themselves to be worth holding on to and repeating.

I am not too sure that this Apricot Soufflé is one of them. It’s okay but I felt that there was really something missing. There’s a certain amount of preparation before you begin cooking: the apricots have to be soaked over night. So, if you want to make this, you must prepare ahead.

The preparation and cooking, apart from the soaking, were quite easy. The dish looked reasonable when it came from the oven and tasted acceptably. What it did lack was a strong flavour of apricot. This was very light on.

When I was making the soufflé I had some of the mixture over so I put it in a small ramekin and cooked it at the same time. I ate it the next day from the  fridge, a sunken cold soufflé. And I enjoyed this small deflated offering much much more than the previous night’s one. The apricot flavour came through quite well. Odd that cold and a night old this gave out considerably more flavour.

As some of these books may be out of print if anyone would like a particular recipe, email me (alfcooksvege@ozemail.com.au) and I’ll send an abbreviated version. Of course, the whole book would be better; it’s loaded with other goodies.

Taste: ✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔