It seems that there is a day for anything and everything and today is Cheese Soufflé Day 2024. To celebrate Cheese Soufflé Day 2024, discover 10 facts about Cheese Soufflé and French wine pairing recommendations from French wine importers.
- Soufflé is an egg-based dish which is baked in the oven
- Cheese soufflé is obviously savoury but there are sweet soufflé dishes such as chocolate soufflé
- Soufflé is the past tense of the verb souffle meaning to blow, breathe, inflate or to puff.
- The name soufflé makes sense as the dish inflates as it cooks
- Cheese soufflé is made of a cheese purée and egg whites beaten to a peak
Photo: Jules Morgan from Montreal, Canada, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons - The first soufflé was served at The Grande Taverne de Londres in Paris.
- Antoine Beauvilliers was the chef there and is often credited as the inventor of the soufflé.
- Marie-Antoine Carême however is credited with popularising the soufflé. He created hundreds of versions including a gold-flecked liqueur macerated one called the Rothschild
- The first mention of the soufflé in writing in English was in 1742 by Vincent La Chapelle, a French master cook in his book Le Cuisinier Moderne (The Modern Cook) the soufflé is in under the title omelette soufflée.
- The first mention in writing in French however is between 1722 and 1730 in François Massialot’s Le Nouveau cuisinier royal et bourgeois which was a “crème soufflé of egg whites, diversified and dotted with lemon peel”.
CHEESE SOUFFLÉ FRENCH WINE PAIRINGS
We asked French wine importers in Australia to tell us which French wines they would pair with a cheese soufflé.
Ashleigh Huggins from Clos Cachet recommends pairing Domaine Charles Sparr – Riesling Grand Cru Schoenenbourg “Révélation” 2017 with Cheese Soufflé.
She says:
For a dessert that is so enveloping and not overly sweet, a stunning riesling from Alsace is the perfect glass to sip on as you enjoy it. This Grand Cru by Domaine Sparr has “so much candied citrus, angelica, dried sage and thyme in the nose” (James Suckling) allowing it to draw out the intricate flavours of the cheese. With 95 points by James Suckling it is hard to go wrong with this cuvee and a great way to indulge yourself.
Twee Nguyen of Dynamic Wines says she would recommend a white wine from Jura like the Domaine Rijckaert Côtes du Jura ‘Vigne des Voises’ Chardonnay to pair with Cheese Soufflé.
Twee says:
It is a delicate and quality expression of Chardonnay from a small vineyard and this is what you want to match a delicate dish like cheese souffle. However, the main reason for the choice is that Jura is also the country of some amazing cheeses and notably the Comté which is a premium ingredient for making a remarkable soufflé.
This Cote du Jura Chardonnay will complement the fresh butter and nutty notes of the Comté. When you match produce and a wine from the same location, you can never go wrong. They come from the same place for a reason!!
Jean-François Gavanon of Cyrano Wines makes the following suggestions:
A lively, mineral white wine such as a Chardonnay from Burgundy (Macon, Pouilly…) or a more complex, gourmet Chenin Blanc from the Loire Valley, whose long finish will create a sensation with a soufflé made with a strong cheese such as Cheddar or Parmesan. (Vouvray).
A red wine is possible, provided it’s light and fruity, like a young Pinot Noir from Burgundy or a Gamay from Beaujolais, with delicate aromas of red and black fruits, whose light acidity will balance the soufflé’s fattiness.
GET SOCIAL ON CHEESE SOUFFLÉ DAY 2024
If you’re enjoying a cheese soufflé today, use these hashtags #nationalcheesesouffleday #cheesesouffleday #cheesesouffle #souffleaufromage and tag @matildamarseillaise to show us your cheese soufflé
What’s your favourite cheese soufflé? Where do you get it from?
You may also like to read our other food day wine pairing article which we wrote earlier this month about Crêpe Suzette
