 Chapter 5 Part 2 of The Complete Book of Cheese. Chapter 5 Part 2 65 Sizzling Rabbits. Yale College Welsh Rabbit, Moriarty's. 1 Jigar of beer, ¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, ¼ teaspoon mustard, 1 and ½ cups grated or shaved cheese, more beer. Pour the Jigar of beer into a low saucepan. Dash on the seasonings, add the cheese and stir unremittingly, moistening from time to time with more beer, a pony or two at a time. When creamy, pour over buttered toast, two slices for this amount, and serve with still more beer. There are two schools of postgraduate rabbit hunters. Yale as above, with beer both in the rabbit and with it, and the other featured in the stiferecipe, which prefers leaving it out of the rabbit. But tap sakeg to drink with it. The ancient age of Moriarty's campus classic is registered by the use of pioneer black pepper in place of white, which is often used today and is thought more sophisticated by some than the red cayenne of rector's knotty 90s chafing dish rabbit, which is precisely the same as our basic recipe number one. Order hopping bunny, or for holy rabbit. One and a half tablespoons butter, one and a half tablespoons chopped onion, two tablespoons chopped pepper, green or red, or both. One and one half teaspoon chili powder, one small can kidney beans drained, one and one half tablespoons ketchup, half teaspoon Worcestershire, salt, two cups grated cheese. Cook onion and pepper lightly in butter with chili powder. Add kidney beans and seasonings, and stir in the cheese until melted. Serve this beanie bunny peppery hot on tortillas or crackers, toasted and buttered. In the whole hutch of kitchen rabbitry, the most popular modern ones are made with tomato, a little or lots. They hop in from everywhere, from Mexico to South Africa, and call for all kinds of quirks down to mixing in some dried beef, and there is even a skimpy tomato rabbit for reducers, made with farmer cheese and skimmed milk. Although the quaintly named rum-tum-titty was doubtless the great grand-pappy of all tomato rabbits, a richer, more buttery and more eggy one has taken its place as the standard today. The following is a typical recipe for this, tried and true, since it has had a successful run through a score of the best modern cookbooks, with only slight personal changes to keep its juice of flowing blood red. Tomato rabbit Two tablespoons butter Two tablespoons flour Three quarter cup thin cream or evaporated milk Three quarter cup canned tomato pulp Rub through a sieve to remove seeds A pinch of soda Three cups grated cheese Pinches of dry mustard, salt, and cayenne Two eggs, lightly beaten Blend flour in melted butter Add cream slowly, and when this white sauce is a little thick, stir in tomato sprinkled with soda. Keep stirring steadily while adding cheese and seasonings, and when cooked enough, stir in the eggs to make a creamy texture, smooth as silk. Serve on buttered whole wheat or graham bread for a change. Instead of soda, some antiquated recipes call for a tablespoon of bicarbonate of potash. South African tomato rabbit This is the same as above, except that half teaspoon of sugar is used in place of the soda, and the rabbit is poured over baked pastry cut into squares, and sprinkled with parsley chopped fine, put in the oven, and served immediately. Rum-tum-titty, rink-tum-ditty, etc. Old Boston style One tablespoon butter One onion minced One teaspoon salt One big pinch of pepper Two cups cooked tomatoes One tablespoon sugar Three cups grated store cheese One egg lightly beaten Slowly fry onion bright golden in butter Season and add tomatoes with sugar Heat just under the bubbling point. Don't let it boil, but keep adding cheese and shaking the pan until it melts. Then stir in egg gently and serve very hot. Tomato soup rabbit One canned condensed tomato soup Two cups grated cheese One quarter teaspoon English mustard One egg lightly beaten Salt and pepper Heat soup, stir in cheese until melted Add mustard and egg slowly Season and serve hot. This is a quickie rum-tum-titty without any onion, a poor house-broken version of the original. It can be called celery rabbit if you use a can of celery soup in place of the tomato. Onion rum-tum-titty Prepare as in rum-tum-titty, but use only one and a half cups cooked tomatoes, and add half cup of mashed boiled onions. Sherry rum-tum-titty One tablespoon butter One small onion minced One small green pepper minced One canned tomato soup Three quarter cup milk Three cups grated cheese One half teaspoon Worcestershire sauce Salt and pepper One egg lightly beaten One jigger sherry crackers Prepare as in rum-tum-titty, stir in the sherry last to retain its flavor. Crumble crackers into a hot terrain until it's about one third full, and pour the hot rum-tum-titty over them. Blushing bunny This is a sister under the skin to the old-fashioned rum-tum-titty, except that her complexion is made a little rosier with a lot of paprika in place of plain pepper, and the paprika cooked in from the start, of course. Blushing bunny is one of those playful English names for dishes, like Pink Poodle, Scotch Woodcock, given below, Bubble and Squeak, Bubble and Squeakum, and Toad in the Hole, Scotch Woodcock. Another variant of rum-tum-titty. Make your rum-tum-titty, but before finishing up with the beaten egg, stir in two heaping tablespoons of anchovy paste, and prepare the buttered toast by laying on slices of hard-cooked eggs. American Woodchuck One and one half cups tomato puree Two cups grated cheese One egg lightly beaten Cayenne One tablespoon brown sugar Salt and pepper Heat the tomato and stir in the cheese. When partly melted, stir in the egg, and when almost cooked, add seasonings without ever interrupting the stirring. Pour over hot toasted crackers or bread. No doubt this all-American tomato rabbit with brown sugar was named after the native Woodchuck in playful imitation of the Scotch Woodcock above. It's the only rabbit we know that's sweetened with brown sugar. Running Rabbit, as served at the Waldorf Astoria First Annual Cheeslers Field Day, November 12, 1937. Cut finest old American cheese in very small pieces, and melt in saucepan with a little good beer. Season and add Worcestershire sauce. Serve instantly with freshly made toast. This running coni can be poured over toast like any other rabbit, or over crushed crackers in a hot terrain, as in sherry rum-tum-titty. Or serve like fondue in the original cooking bowl or pan, with the spoon kept moving in it in one direction only, and the rabbit following the spoon, like a greyhound following the stuffed rabbit at the dog races. Mexican Chaleli One tablespoon butter Three tablespoons chopped green pepper One and one half tablespoons chopped onion One cup chopped and drained canned tomatoes without seeds Two and one half cups grated cheese Three-quarter teaspoon salt Dash of cayenne One egg lightly beaten Two tablespoons canned tomato juice Watercress Cook pepper and onion lightly in butter. Add tomato pulp and cook five minutes before putting over boiling water and stirring steadily as you add cheese and seasonings. Moisten the egg with the tomato juice and stir in until the rabbit is thick and velvety. Serve on toast and dress with watercress. This popular modern rabbit seems to be a twin to rum-tum-titty in spite of the century's difference in age. Fluffy, eggy rabbit. Stir up a chaleli as above, but use two well beaten eggs to make it more fluffy and leave out the watercress. Serve it hot over cold slices of hard-cooked eggs crowded flat on hot buttered toast to make it extra eggy. Grilled tomato rabbit. Slice big red juicy tomatoes half inch thick. Season with salt, pepper, and plenty of brown sugar. Dot both sides with all the butter that won't slip off. Heat in moderate oven and when almost cooked, remove and broil on both sides. Put on hot plates in place of the usual toast and pour the rabbit over them. The rabbit is made according to either basic recipe number one or number two. Slices of crisp bacon on top of the tomato slices and a touch of horseradish help. Grilled tomato and onion rabbit. Slice quarter inch thick, an equal number of tomato and onion rings. Season with salt, pepper, brown sugar, and dots of butter. Heat in moderate oven and when almost cooked, remove and broil lightly. On hot plates, lay first the onion rings, top with the tomato ones, and pour the rabbit over as in the plain grilled tomato recipe above. For another onion flavored rabbit, see celery and onion rabbit. The devils own a fresh tomato variant. Two tablespoons butter, one large peeled tomato in fourth thick slices. Two and a half cups grated cheese. One quarter teaspoon English mustard. A pinch of cayenne. A dash of Tabasco sauce. Two tablespoons chili sauce. One half cup ale or beer. One egg, lightly beaten. Saute tomato slices lightly on both sides in one tablespoon butter. Keep warm on hot platter while you make the toast and a basic rabbit, pepped up by the extra hot seasonings listed above. Put hot tomato slices on hot toast on hot plates. Pour the hot mixture over. Dried beef or chipped beef rabbit. One tablespoon butter. One cup canned tomato, drained, chopped and deseeded. One quarter pound dried beef, shredded. Two eggs, lightly beaten. One quarter teaspoon pepper. Two cups grated cheese. Heat tomato and butter. Add beef and eggs. Stir until mixed well. Then sprinkle with pepper. Stir in the grated cheese until smooth and creamy. Serve on toast. No salt is needed on this jerked stear meat that is called both dried beef and chipped beef on this side of the border. Tossajo on the other side. And zarque when you get all the way down to Brazil. Kansas Jack rabbit. One cup milk. Three tablespoons butter. Three tablespoons flour. Two cups grated cheese. One cup cream style corn. Salt and pepper. Make a white sauce of milk, butter and flour. And stir in cheese steadily and gradually until melted. Add corn and season to taste. Serve on hot buttered toast. Kansas has plenty of the makings for this. Yet the dish must have been easier to make on Baron Munchausen's Island of Cheese where the corn stocks produced loaves of bread ready made instead of ears. And were no doubt crossed with long-eared jacks to produce rabbits quite as miraculous. After tomatoes in popularity come onions and then green peppers or canned pimentos as vegetable ingredients in modern Americanized rabbits. And after that corn as in the following recipe which appeals to all Latin Americans from Mexico to Chile because it has everything. Latin American corn rabbit. Two tablespoons butter. One green pepper chopped. One large onion chopped. One half cup condensed tomato soup. Three cups grated cheese. One teaspoon salt. One quarter teaspoon black pepper. One half teaspoon Worcestershire sauce. One cup canned corn. One egg lightly beaten. Fry pepper and onion five minutes in butter. Add soup. Cover and cook five minutes more. Pour over boiling water. Add cheese with seasonings and stir steadily slowly adding corn and when thoroughly blended and creamy moisten the egg with a little of the liquid stir in until thickened and then pour over hot toaster crackers. Mushroom tomato rabbit. In one pan commence frying in butter one cup of sliced fresh mushrooms and in another make a rabbit by melting over boiling water two cups of grated cheese with one half teaspoon salt and one half teaspoon paprika. Stir steadily and when partially melted stir in a can of condensed tomato soup previously heated. Then add the fried mushrooms slowly. Stir until creamy and pour over hot toaster crackers. Celery and onion rabbit. One half cup chopped hearts of celery. One small onion chopped. One tablespoon butter. One and one half cups grated sharp cheese. Salt and pepper. In a separate pan boil celery and onion until tender. Meanwhile melt cheese with butter and seasonings and stir steadily. When nearly done stir the celery and onion in gradually until smooth and creamy. Pour over buttered toast and brown with a salamander or under the grill. Asparagus rabbit. Make as above substituting a couple of tender sliced asparagus tops for the celery and onions. Oyster rabbit. Two dozen oysters and their liquor. One teaspoon butter. Two eggs lightly beaten. One large pinch of salt. One small pinch of cayenne. Three cups grated cheese. Heat oysters until edges curl and put aside to keep warm while you proceed to stir up a rabbit. When cheese is melted add the eggs with some of the oyster liquor and keep stirring. When the rabbit has thickened to a smooth cream drop in the warm oysters to heat a little more and serve on hot buttered toast. Seafood rabbits. Crab, lobster, shrimp, scallops, clams, mussels, abalone, squid, octopi, anything that swims in the sea or crawls on the bottom of the ocean. Shred, flake, or mince a cup full of any freshly cooked or canned seafood and save some of the liquor if any. Make according to oyster rabbit recipe above. Instead of using only one kind of seafood try several mixed according to taste. Spike this succulent sea rabbit with horseradish or a dollop of sherry for a change. Bouquet of the sea rabbit. The seafaring Portuguese set the style for this lush bouquet of as many different kinds of cooked fish, tuna, cod, salmon, et cetera, as can be sardine together in the whirlpool of melted cheese in the chafing dish. They also accent it with tidbits of seafood as above. Other fish, rabbit, fresh or dried. Any cooked fresh fish, flaked and shredded, from the ale wife to the whale, or cooked dried herring, fin and haddy, mackerel, cod, and so on can be stirred in to make a basic rabbit more tasty. Happy combinations are hit upon in mixing leftovers of several kinds by the cup full. So the odd old cookbook direction, add a cup of fish, takes on new meaning. Grilled sardine rabbit. Make a basic rabbit and pour it over sardine, skin, boned, halved, and grilled on buttered toast. Similarly, cooked fillets of any small fish will make a succulent, a grilled rabbit. Roe rabbits. Sliced cooked roe of shad or toothsome eggs of other fish, grill on toast, butter well, and pour a basic rabbit over. Although shad roe is esteemed the finest, there are many other sapid ones of salmon, herring, flounder, cod, et cetera. Plain sardine rabbit. Make basic rabbit with only two cups of cheese and in place of the egg yolks and beer, stir in a large tin of sardines, skinned, boned, and flaked. Anchovy rabbit. Make basic rabbit. Add one tablespoon of imported East Indian chutney with the egg yolks and beer at the finish. Spread toast thickly with anchovy paste and butter and pour the rabbit over. Smoked sturgeon, whiting, eel, smoked salmon, and the like. Lay cold slices or flakes of any fine smoked fish, and all of them are fine, on hot, buttered toast and pour a basic rabbit over the fish. The best combination we ever tasted is made by laying a thin slice of smoked salmon over a thick one of smoked sturgeon. Smoked cheddar rabbit. With or without smoked fish, rabbit hunters whose palates crave the savor of a wisp of smoke, go for the basic rabbit made with smoked cheddar in place of the usual aged but unsmoked cheddar. We use a two-year-old that Phil Alpert, Mr. Cheese himself, brings down from Canada and has specially smoked in the same savory room where sturgeon is getting the works. So his cheddar absorbs the deluxe flavor of $6 per pound sturgeon and is sold for a fraction of that. And just in case you are fishing around for something extra special, serve this smoky rabbit with the brown Bombay ducks, those crunchy flat toasts of East Indian fish. Or go Oriental, by accompanying this with cups of smoky lepsing Souchang Jainatee. Crumpy rabbit. One tablespoon butter, two cups grated cheese, one cup stale breadcrumbs soaked with one cup milk, one egg lightly beaten, salt, cayenne, toasted crackers. Hot cheese and butter, stir in the soaked crumbs and seasonings. When cooked smooth and creamy, stir in the egg to thicken the mixture. And serve on toasted crackers, dry or buttered, for contrast with the bread. Some rabbit tears monkey with this, lacing it with half a cup of ketchup, making a sort of pink baboon out of what should be a white monkey. There is a cult for crumbly rabbits, variations on which extend all the way to a deep casserole dish called baked rabbit and consisting of alternate layers of stale breadcrumbs and grated cheese crumbs. This illegitimate three layer rabbit is moistened with eggs beaten up with milk and seasoned with salt and paprika. Crumpy tomato rabbit. Two teaspoons butter, two cups grated cheese, one half cup soft breadcrumbs, one cup tomato soup, salt and pepper, one egg lightly beaten. Melt cheese and butter, moistened breadcrumbs with the tomato soup and stir in, season, add egg and keep stirring until velvety. Serve on toasted crackers as a contrast to the breadcrumbs. Gherkin or Irish rabbit. Two tablespoons butter, two cups grated cheese, one half cup milk or beer, a dash of vinegar, one half teaspoon mustard, salt and pepper, one half cup chopped gherkin pickles. Melt cheese and butter, steadily stir in liquid and seasonings. Keep stirring until smooth, then add the pickles and serve. This may have been called Irish after the green of the pickle. Dutch rabbit. Melt thin slices of any good cooking cheese in a heavy skillet with a little butter, prepared mustard and a splash of beer. Have ready some slices of toast soaked in hot beer or ale and pour the rabbit over them. The temperance version of this substitutes milk for beer and delicately soaks the toast in hot water instead. Proof that there is no Anglo-Saxon influence here lies in the use of prepared mustard. The English, who still do a lot of things the hard way, mix their biting dry mustard fresh with water before every meal while the Germans and French bottle theirs as we do. Pumpernickel rabbit. This German derivation is made exactly the same as the Dutch rabbit above, but its ingredients are the opposite in color. Black bread, pumpernickel, slices are soaked in heated dark beer, porter or stout, and the yellow cheese melted in the skillet is also stirred up with brunette beer. Since beer is a kind of liquid bread, it is natural for the two to co-mingle in rabbits whether they are blond Dutch or black pumpernickel. And since cheese is only solid milk and the cheddar is noted for its beery smell, there is another affinity here. An old English proverb sums it up neatly, bread and cheese are the two targets against death. By the way, the word pumpernickel is said to have been coined when Napoleon tasted his first black bread in Germany. Contemptuously, he spat it out with, this would be good for my horse Nicole, Bonpour Nicole in French. Crier, Welsh rabbit, au gratin. Cut crusts from half a dozen slices of bread. Toast them lightly, lay in a roasting pan, and top each with a matching slice of imported gruyere three-eighths inch thick. Pepper to taste, and cover with breadcrumbs. Put in oven ten minutes, and rush to the ultimate consumer. To our American ears, anything au gratin suggests with cheese. So this rabbit au gratin may sound redundant. To a Frenchman, however, it means a dish covered with breadcrumbs. Swiss cheese rabbit, one-half cup white wine, preferably Neufchatelle. One-half cup grated gruyere, one teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, one-half teaspoon paprika, two egg yolks. Stir wine and seasonings together with cheese until it melts. Then thicken with the egg yolks, stirring at least three more minutes until smooth. Sherry rabbit, three cups grated cheese, one-half cup cream or evaporated milk, one-half cup sherry, one-quarter teaspoon English mustard, one-half teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, a dash of paprika. Heat cheese over hot water, with or without a bit of butter, and when it begins to melt, stir in the cream. Keep stirring until almost all of the cheese is melted, then add sherry. When smooth and creamy, stir in the mustard and Worcestershire sauce, and after pouring over buttered toast, dash with paprika for color. Spanish sherry rabbit, three tablespoons butter, three tablespoons flour, one bouillon cube mashed, one-half teaspoon salt, one-half teaspoon dry mustard, one and one-half cups milk, one and one-half cups grated cheese, one jigger sherry. Make a smooth paste of butter, flour, bouillon cube and seasonings, and add milk slowly. When well heated, stir in the cheese gradually. Continue stirring at least ten minutes, and when well blended, stir in the sherry and serve on hot buttered toast. Pink poodle, two tablespoons butter, one tablespoon chopped onion, one tablespoon flour, one jigger California claret, one cup cream of tomato soup, a pinch of soda, one-half teaspoon dry mustard, one-half teaspoon salt, one teaspoon paprika, a dash of powdered cloves, three cups grated cheese, one egg lightly beaten, cook onion and butter until light golden, then blend in flour, wine, and soup with the soda and all seasonings. Stir in cheese slowly until melted, and finish off by thickening with the egg and stirring until smooth and velvety. Serve on crisp buttered toast with dry red wine. Although wine rabbits, red or white, are as unusual as Swiss ones with gruyere in place of cheddar, wine is commonly drunk with anything from a golden buck to a blushing bunny, but for most of us, a deep draft of beer or ale goes best with an even deeper draft of the mellow scent of a cheddar golden yellow. Savory, eggy, dry rabbit, one-eighth pound butter, two cups grated gruyere, four eggs well beaten, salt, pepper, mustard. Melt butter and cheese together with the beaten eggs, stirring steadily with wooden spoon until smooth, season and pour over dry toast. This dry rabbit, in which the volume of eggs makes up for any lacking liquid, is still served as a savory after the sweets to finish a fine meal in some old-fashioned English homes and hostelries. Cream cheese rabbit. This rabbit, made with a package of cream cheese, is more scrambled hen fruit than rabbit food, for you simply scramble a half dozen eggs with buttermilk, salt, pepper, and cayenne, before the finish, work in the cheese until smooth and serve on crackers, water crackers for a change. Reducing Rare Bit. Tomato Rare Bit. Footnote A. From the Low Calorie Cookbook by Bernard Cotin, published by Random House. End Footnote. Yield, two servings, 235 calories per serving, one half pound farmer cheese, two eggs, one powdered milk, one level tablespoon baking powder, one teaspoon gelatin, or agar powder, four egg tomatoes quartered, or two tomatoes quartered, one teaspoon caraway seeds, one quarter teaspoon garlic powder, one teaspoon parsley flakes, one half head lettuce, and or one cucumber, one quarter cup wine vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. Fill bottom of double boiler to three quarter mark. Sprinkle salt in upper part of double boiler. Boil over medium flame. When upper part is hot, put in cheese, powdered milk, baking powder, gelatin, caraway seeds, and pepper, and garlic powder to taste. Mix. Break eggs into this mixture. Cook over low flame continually stirring. Add tomatoes when mixture bubbles and continue cooking and stirring until tomatoes have been cooked soft. Remove to lettuce and or cucumber, slice thin, which has been slightly marinated in wine vinegar and sprinkle the parsley flakes over the top of the mixture. Curry rabbit. One tablespoon corn starch, two cups milk, two and one half cups grated cheese, one tablespoon minced chives, two green onions minced, two shallots minced, one quarter teaspoon imported curry powder, one tablespoon chutney sauce. Dissolve corn starch in a little of the milk and scald the rest over hot water. Thicken with corn starch mixture and stir in the cheese, chives, onions, shallots, curry and chutney while wooden spooning steadily until smooth and sizzling enough to pour over buttered toast. People who can't let well enough alone put corn starch in rabbits just as they add soda to spoil the cooking of vegetables. Ginger ale rabbit. Simply substitute ginger ale for the real thing in the number one rabbit of all time. Buttermilk rabbit. Substitute buttermilk for plain milk in the number two rabbit. To be consistent, use fresh cured buttermilk cheese instead of the usual cheddar of fresh cow's milk. This is milder. Eggnog rabbit. Two tablespoons sweet butter, two cups grated mellow cheddar, one and one third cups eggnog, to taste. After melting the cheese and butter, stir in the eggnog and keep stirring until smooth and thickened. Season or not, depending on taste and the quality of the eggnog employed. Ever since the innovation of bottled eggnogs fresh from the milkman in holiday season, such supremely creamy and flavorful rabbits have been multiplying as fast as guinea pigs. All-American suck-a-tash rabbit. One cup milk. Three tablespoons butter. Three tablespoons flour. Three cups grated cheese. One cup creamed suck-a-tash. Strained. Salt and pepper. Make a white sauce of milk, butter, and flour and stir in the cheese steadily and gradually until melted. Add the cream suck-a-tash and season to taste. Serve on toasted buttered cornbread. Danish rabbit. One quart warm milk. Two cups grated cheese. Stir together to boiling point and pour over piping hot toast in heated bowl. This is an esteemed breakfast dish in North Denmark. As in all rabbits, more or less cheese may be used to taste. Easy English rabbit. Soak bread slices in hot beer. Melt thin slices of cheese with butter in iron frying pan. Stir in a few spoonfuls and a bit of prepared mustard. When smoothly melted, pour over the piping hot beer-soaked toast. End of Chapter 5 Part 2 Recording by Patti Cunningham. The Complete Book of Cheese by Robert Carleton Brown Chapter 6 The Fondue There is a conspiracy among the dictionary makers to take the heart out of the fondue. Webster makes it seem no better than a collapsed souffle with his definition fondue. Also, ironically, fondue without the E. A dish made of melted cheese, butter, eggs, and often milk and breadcrumbs. Thorndyke Barnhardt further demolts this dish that for centuries has been one of the world's greatest to a combination of melted cheese, eggs, and butter, and explains that the name comes from the French fondue, meaning melt. The latest snub is delivered by the up-to-date Cook's Quiz, by TV culinary experts. A baked dish with eggs, cheese, butter, milk, and breadcrumbs. A baked dish, indeed! Yet the fondue has added to the gaiety and inebriity of nations if not of dictionaries. It has commended the respect of the culinary great. Savarin Boulestin, André Simon, all have hailed its heavenly consistency. All have been regalled with its creamy, nay, velvety smoothness. A touch of garlic, a dash of kersh, fresh ground black pepper, nutmeg, black pearl truffles of bouquet, rad cayenne pepper, the luscious gravy of roast turkey. Such little matters help to make an authentic dunking fondue, not a baked fondue, mind you. André Simon, a century and a half ago, brought the original recede with him and spread it around with characteristic generosity during the two years of his exile in New York after the French Revolution. In his monumental Physiologie du Gout, he records an incident that occurred in 1795. While passing through Boston, I taught the restaurant keeper Julien to make a fondue or eggs cooked with cheats. This dish, a novelty to the Americans, became so much the rage that he, Julien, felt himself obliged by way of thanks to send me to New York the rum of one of those pretty little row-bucks that are brought from Canada in winter and which was declared exquisite by the chosen committee whom I convoked for the occasion. As the great French gourmet, Savarin was born on the Swiss border at Berlin, in the fertile province of Buge where Gertrude Stein later had a summer home. He no doubt ate Gruyère three times a day, as is the custom in Switzerland and adjacent parts. He sat down a recipe just as he got it from its Swiss source, the papers of Monsieur Troyea in the neighboring canton of Berne. Take as many eggs as you wish to use according to the number of your guests. Then take a lump of good Gruyère cheese weighing about a third of the eggs and a nut of butter about half the weight of the cheese. Since today's eggs in America weigh about one and a half ounces apiece, if you start to fond you with eight, your lump of good Gruyère would come to a fourth of a pound and your butter to an eighth of a pound. Break and beat the eggs well in a flat pan. Then add the butter and the cheese grated or cut in small pieces. Place the pan on a good fire and stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture is fairly thick and soft. Put in a little or no salt according to the age of the cheese and a good deal of pepper for this is one of the special attributes of this ancient dish. Let it be placed on the table in a hot dish and if some of the best wines be produced in the bottle past quite freely a marvelous effect will be beheld. This has long been quoted as the proper way to make the national dish of Switzerland. Savajan tells of hearing oldsters in his district laugh over the bishop of Bali eating his fondue with a spoon instead of the traditional fork in the first decade of the 1700s. He tells too of a fondue party he threw for a couple of his septuagenarian cousins in Paris in 1901. The party was the result of much friendly taunting of the master. By Jovgen, you have been bragging for such a long time about your fondues. You have continually made our mouths water and it is high time to put a stop to all this who will come and breakfast with you someday and see what sort of thing this dish is. Savajan invited them for 10 o'clock next day. Started them off with the table laid no white cloth and in each one's place two dozen oysters with a bright golden lemon. At each end of the table stood a bottle of sauter carefully wiped accepting the cork which showed distinctly that it had been in the cellar for a long while. After the oysters which were quite fresh came some broiled kidneys a terrine au foie gras a pie with truffles and finally the fondue. Different ingredients had all been assembled in a stew pan which was placed on the table over a chaffing dish heated with spirits of wine. Then, Savajan is quoted I commenced operations on the field of battle and my cousins did not lose a single one of my movements. They were loud in the praise of this preparation and asked me to let them have the receipt which I promised them. This fondue breakfast party that gave the 19th century such a good start was polished off with fruits in season and sweets a cup of genuine mocha and finally two sorts of liqueurs one a spirit for cleansing and the other an oil for softening. This primitive Swiss cheese fondue is now prepared more elaborately in what is called Nefchâtel style two and a half cups grated imported Swiss one and a half tablespoons flour one clove of garlic one cup dry white wine crusty french flute or hard rolls cut into big mouthfuls handy for dunking one jigger kersh salt pepper nutmeg the cheese should be shredded or grated coarsely and mixed well with the flour use a chaffing dish for cooking and a small heated casserole for serving hub the bottom and sides of the blazer well with garlic pour in the wine and heat to bubbling just under boiling add cheese slowly half a cup at a time and stir steadily in one direction only as in making well shrabbit use a silver fork season with very little salt always depending on how salty the cheese is but use plenty of black pepper freshly ground and a touch of nutmeg then pour in the kersh stir steadily and invite guests to dunk their fork bread in the dish or in a smaller preheated casserole over a low electric or alcohol burner on the dining table the trick is to keep the bubbling melted cheese in rhythmic motion with the fork both up and down and around and around the dunker stab the hunks of crusty french bread or the soft part to secure a firm hold in the crust for if your bread comes off in dunking you pay a forfeit often a bottle of wine the dunking is done as rhythmically as the stirring guests taking regular turns at twirling the fork to keep the cheese swirling when this chaffing dish cheese custard as it has been called in England is ready for eating each in turn thrusts in his fork pops up a mouthful with the bread for a sponge and gives the fondue a final stir to keep it always moving in the same direction all the while the heat beneath the dish keeps it gently bubbling such a niffchartel party was a favorite of King Edward VII especially when he was stepping out as the Prince of Wales he was as fond of fondue as most of the great gourmets of his day and preferred it to Welsh rabbit perhaps because of the wine and kerch that went into it at such a party a little heated wine is added if the fondue gets too thick when finally it has cooked down to a crust in the bottom of the dish this is forked out by the host and divided among the guests as a very special dividend any dry white wine will serve in a pinch and the Switzerland Cheese Association in broadcasting this classical recipe points out that any dry rum slivovitz or brandy including applejack will be a valid substitute for the kerch to us applejack seems specially suited when we stop to consider our native taste that has married apple pie to cheese since pioneer times in culinary usage fondue means melting to an edible consistency in this of course doesn't refer to cheese alone as it's cheaply for that in France fondue is also the common name for a simple dish of eggs scrambled with grated cheese and butter and served very hot on toasted bread or filled into fancy paper cases quickly browned on top and served at once the reason for this is that all baked fondues fall as easily as far as souffle although the latter are more noted for this failing there is a similarity to the soft fluffiness of both although the fondues are always more moist for there is a stiff stuffed shirt build up around any souffle suggesting a dressy dinner while fondues started as a self-service dunking bowl our modern tendency is to try to make over the original French fondue on the Welsh rabbit model to turn it into a sort of French rabbit although we know that both cuillère and emmentaler are what we call Swiss and that it is impossible in America to duplicate the rich alpine flavor given by the mountain herbs we are inclined to try all sorts of domestic cheeses and mixtures thereof but it's best to stick to Savaghan's lump of cuillère just as the neighboring French and Italians do it is interesting to note that this Swiss alpine cooking has become so international that it is credited to Italy in the following description we reprint from when Madame cooks by an Englishman Eric Weir fondues are l'italienne this is one of those egg dishes that makes one feel really grateful to Hans from its name it originated probably in Italy but it has crossed the Alps I have often met it in France but only once in Italy first of all make a very stiff white sauce flour and milk the sauce should be stiff enough to allow the wooden spoon to stand upright or almost off the fire add yolks of egg and 4 ounces of grated guillère cheese mix this in well with the white sauce and season with salt pepper and some grated nutmeg beat whites of egg firm add the whites to the preparation stir in and pour into a cutting take a large saucepan and fill half full of water bring to a boil and then place the pudding basin so that the top of the basin is well out of the water allow to boil gently for one and a half to two hours renew the boiling water from time to time as it evaporates and take care that the water in boiling does not bubble over the mixture test with a knife as for a cake to see if it is cooked when the knife comes out clean take the basin out of the water and turn the fondue out on a dish it should be fairly firm and keep the shape of the basin sprinkle with some finely chopped ham and serve hot the imported Swiss sometimes is cubed instead of grated then marinated for four or five hours in dry white wine with the schnapps this can be pleasantly adopted here in all American fondue one pound imported Swiss cheese cubed three quarters of a cup or other American white wine one and a half jiggers applejack after marinating the Swiss cubes in the wine simply melt together over hot water stir until soft and creamy add the applejack fingers of toast or your own to a chorus of all bound round with a wooden string of course this can be treated as a mere vinyls welsh rabbit and poured over toast to be accompanied by beer but wine is the thing for the French fondue is to dry wine what the rabbit is to stale ale or fresh beer we say French instead of Swiss because the French took over the dish so eagerly together with the great Coyer so instinctive they internationalized it sent it around the world with bouillabaisse and onion soup that Celeste showed soup à l'ouillon on which snowy showers of great gruyère descend to put the welsh rabbit in its place they called it fondue à l'anglais which also points up the twin-like relationship of the world's two favorite dishes of melted cheese but to differentiate and show they are not identical twins the first one dish remained fromage fondue while the second was baptized fromage fondue à la bière beginning with Savarin the French whisked up more rapturous rhapsodic writings about Gruyère and its offspring the fondue together with the puffed soufflé that about any other imported cheese except Parmesan Parmesan and Gruyère were praised as the two greatest culinary cheeses made of the Italian cheese Parmesan fondue 3 tablespoons butter 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese 4 eggs lightly beaten salt, pepper over boiling water melt butter and cheese slowly stir in the eggs seasoned to taste and stir steadily in one direction only until smooth pour over fingers of butter toast or spoon it up as the ancients did before there were any forks it's beaten with a fork but eaten catch as catch can, like chicken in the rough sapsago Swiss fondue 2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons flour 1 half teaspoon salt 1 and a half cups of milk 2 and a half cups of shredded Swiss cheese 2 and a half tablespoons of grated sapsago 1 half cup of dry white wine pepper black and red freshly ground fingers of toast over boiling water stir the first 4 ingredients into a smooth, fairly thick cream sauce then stir in Swiss cheese until well melted after that add the sapsago finely grated and wine in small splashes stir steadily in one direction only until velvety season sharply with the contrasting peppers and serve over fingers of toast this is also nice when served bubbling in individual preheated pastry shells, gas rolls or rainkins, although this way most of the fun of the dunking party is left out to make up for it however cooked slices of mushrooms are sometimes added. At the cheese seller in the New York World's Fair Swiss Pavilion, where a continual dunking party was in progress thousands of amateurs learned such basic things as not to overcook the fondue lest it becomes stringy and the protocol of dunking in turn and keeping the mass in continual motion until the next on the fondue line dips in his cube of bread the success of the dish depends making it quickly, keeping it gently a bubble and never letting it stand still for a split second the Swiss, who consumed three or four times as much cheese per capita as we and almost twice as much as the French are willing to share fondue honors with the French Alpine province of Savoy, a natural cheese seller with almost two dozen distinctive types of its very own, such as fat cheese also called death's head la grande bournant, a luscious half-dried ship's milker chevrotin, small dried goat milk cheeses and le vacherin the latter, made in both Savoy and Switzerland, boasts two interesting variants vacherin fondue or spiced fondue made about the same as a mentale, ripened to sharp age and then melted, spices added and the cheese reformed it is also called spiced fondue and sells for about two dollars a pound named fondue from being melted, though it's really re-cooked vacherin à la main this is a curiosity in cheeses resembling a cold, uncooked fondue made of cow's milk, it is round a foot in diameter and half a foot high it is salted and aged until the rind is hard and the inside more runny than the ripest so it can be eaten with a spoon like the cooked fondue as well as spread on bread the local name for it is Tom de Montagne here is a good assortment of fondues vacherin fribourg fondue two tablespoons butter one clove of garlic crushed two cups of shredded vacherin cheese two tablespoons of hot water this authentic quickie is started by cooking the garlic in butter until the butter is melted then remove garlic and reduce heat add the soft cheese and stir with silver fork until smooth and velvety add the water in little splashes stirring constantly in one direction dunk in this melted Swiss a little water takes the place of a lot of wine la fondue comme toi this regional specialty of French comté is made with white wine sauterne, chablis, riesling or any ranish type will serve splendidly also use butter grated courrier, beaten eggs and that touch of garlic chiff fondue three cups of grated Swiss cheese three tablespoons of flour two tablespoons of butter one garlic clove crushed three tablespoons of finely chopped chives one cup of dry white wine salt freshly ground pepper a pinch of nutmeg a fourth of a cup of kersh mix cheese and flour melt butter in chaffing dish blazer rubbed with garlic cook chives and butter for one minute add wine and heat just under boiling keep simmering as you add cheese and flour mix gradually stirring always in one direction salt according to age and sharpness of cheese add plenty of freshly ground pepper and a pinch of nutmeg when everything is stirred smooth and bubbling toss in the kersh without missing a stroke of the fork and get to dunking large crisp hot potato chips make a pleasant change for dunking purposes or try assorted crackers alternating with the absorbent bread or hard rolls tomato fondue two tomatoes skinned, seeded and chopped half a teaspoon of dried sweet basil one clove of garlic two tablespoons of butter half a cup of dry white wine two cups of grated cheddar cheese mix basil with chopped tomatoes rub chaffing dish with garlic melt butter add tomatoes in much paprika cook five to six minutes add wine stir steadily to boiling point then add cheese half a cup at a time and keep stirring until everything is smooth serve on hot toast like Welsh Revit here the two most popular melted cheese dishes tangle but they're held together with the common ingredient tomato fondue also appears as a sauce to pour over baked tomatoes stale breadcrumbs are soaked in tomato juice to make tomato baked fondue one cup of tomato juice one cup of stale breadcrumbs one cup of grated sharp American cheese one tablespoon of melted butter salt four eggs separated and well beaten soak crumbs in tomato juice stir cheese in butter until melted season with a little or no salt depending on saltiness of the cheese mix in the beaten yolks fold in the white and bake about 50 minutes in margarite oven baked fondues although Savaghan's pumpkin fondue was first to make a sensation on these shores and is still in highest esteem among epicures, the fondue America took to its bosom was baked the original recipe came from the supercasious province of Savoy under the explicit title la fondue au fromage la fondue au fromage make the usual creamy mixture of butter, flour, milk yolks of eggs and gruyere in thin slices for a change use red pepper instead of black splash in a jigger of kursh but no white wine finally fold in the egg whites and bake in a mold for 45 minutes we adapted this to our national taste which had already based the whole business of melted cheese on the well-shrubbit with stale ale or milk instead of white wine and Worcestershire mustard and hot peppers today we have come up with this 100% American fondue 2 cups of scalded milk 2 cups of stale breadcrumbs half a teaspoon of dry English mustard salt dash of nutmeg dash of pepper 2 cups of American cheese cheddar 2 egg yolks well beaten stiff soak crumbs and milk season and stir in the cheese until melted add the beaten egg yolks and stir until you have a smooth mixture let this cool while beating the whites stiff leaving them slightly moist fold the whites into the cool custardy mix and bake in a buttered dish until firm about 50 minutes in a moderate oven this is more of a baked cheese job than a true fondue to our way of thinking and the scalded milk doesn't exactly take the place of the wine or kersh it is characteristic of our bland cookery other fondues plain and fancy baked and not quicky ketchup tummy fondue 3 quarters of a pound of sharp cheese diced one can of condensed tomato soup half a cup of ketchup half a teaspoon of mustard one egg lightly beaten in double boiler melt cheese in soup blend thoroughly by constant stirring remove from heat lightly whip or fold in the ketchup and mustard mixed with eggs serve on melba toast or rusks this might be suggested as a novel midnight snack with a cup of cocoa for a change cheese and rice fondue one cup of cooked rice two cups of milk four eggs separated and well beaten half a cup of grated cheese half a teaspoon of salt cayenne was is the shyest sauce or tabasco sauce or all three heat rice instead of breadcrumbs and milk stir in cheese until melted add egg yolks beaten lemon yellow season stiff egg whites serve hot on toast corn and cheese fondue one cup of breadcrumbs one large can of cream corn one small onion chopped half a green pepper chopped two cups of cottage cheese half a teaspoon of salt half a cup of milk two eggs well beaten mix all ingredients together and bake in buttered casserole set in pan of hot water bake about one hour in moderate oven or until set cheese fondue one cup of grated cheddar half a cup of crumbled rock for one cup of pimento cheese three tablespoons of cream three tablespoons of butter one teaspoon of was is the shyest stir in cheese fondue half a cup of crumbled rock for the shyest stir everything together over hot water until smooth and creamy then whisk until fluffy moistening with more cream or mayonnaise if too stiff serve on melba toast or assorted thin toasted crackers brick fondue half a cup of butter two cups of grated brick cheese half a cup of warm milk half a teaspoon of salt two eggs melt butter and cheese together use wire whisk to whip in the warm milk season take from fire and beat in the eggs one at a time please note that fondue protocol calls for each egg to be beaten separately in cases like this serve over hot toast or crackers cheddar dunk bowl three fourths of a pound of sharp cheddar cheese three tablespoons of cream two thirds of teaspoon of dry mustard one and a half teaspoons of was is the shyest grate the cheese powdery fine and mash it together with the cream until fluffy season and serve in a beautiful bowl for dunking in the original style of savarin although this is a static imitation of something all kinds of crackers and colorful dips can be used from celery stalks and potato chips to thin petals cut from Bombay duck end of chapter six chapter seven of the complete book of cheese this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer visit LibriVox.org the complete book of cheeses by Robert Carlton Brown chapter seven souffle puffs and ramekins there isn't much difference between cheese souffle puffs and ramekins the English encyclopedia of practical cookery the oldest, biggest and best of such works in English lumps, cheese puffs together giving the same recipes for both although it treats each extensively under its own name when not made with cheese cheese was the basis of the original French ramekin cheese and breadcrumbs or puff paste baked in a mold with puff again the principal factor in souffle from the French souffle puff up basic souffle three tablespoons butter or margarine four tablespoons flour one and a quarter cups hot milk scalded one teaspoon salt a dash of cayenne a half cup of grated cheddar cheese sharp two egg yolks beaten lemon yellow two egg whites beaten stiff melt butter stir in flour and milk gradually until thick and smooth season and add the cheese continuing the cooking and slow stirring until velvety remove from heat and let cool somewhat then stir in the egg yolks with a light hand and an upward motion fold in the stiff whites and when evenly mixed pour into a big round baking dish some butter it and some don't to make sure the top will be even when baked run a spoon or knife around the surface about one inch from the edge of the dish before baking slowly in a moderate oven until puffed high and beautifully browned serve instantly for fear the souffle may fall baking takes up to an hour and the egg whites shouldn't be beaten so stiff they are hard to fold in and contain no air to expand and puff up the dish to perk up the seasonings mustard Worcestershire sauce lemon juice, nutmeg and even garlic are often used to taste especially in England while cheddar is the preferred cheese parmesan runs in a close second then comes Swiss you may use any two or all three of these together sometimes roquefurt is added as in the ramekin recipes below parmesan souffle make the same as basic souffle with the small modifications in the ingredients one full cup of grated parmesan one extra egg in place of the one half cup of cheddar cheese a little more butter black pepper, not cayenne Swiss souffle make the same as basic souffle with these slight changes one and one quarter cups grated Swiss cheese instead of the cheddar cheese nutmeg in place of the cayenne parmesan Swiss souffle make the same as basic souffle with these little differences one half cup grated Swiss cheese and one half cup grated parmesan in place of the cheddar cheese one quarter teaspoon each of sugar and black pepper for seasoning any of these makes a light lovely luncheon or a proper climax to a grand dinner cheese corn souffle make as basic souffle substituting for this scalded milk one cup of sieved and strained juice from cream style canned corn cheese spinach souffle saute one and a half cups of finely chopped drained spinach in butter with one teaspoon finely grained onion and then whip it until light and fluffy mix well into the white sauce of the basic souffle before adding the cheese and following the rest of the recipe cheese tomato souffle substitute hot tomato juice for the scalded milk cheese seafood souffle add one and one half cups finely chopped or ground lobster crab shrimp other seafood or mixture thereof with any preferred seasoning added cheese mushroom souffle one and one half cups grated sharp cheddar one cup cream of mushroom soup paprika to taste salt then two egg whites beaten stiff two tablespoons chopped cooked bacon two tablespoons sliced blanched almonds heat cheese with soup and paprika adding the cheese gradually and stirring until smooth add salt and thicken the sauce with egg yolks still stirring steadily and finally add the egg whites sprinkle with bacon and almonds and bake until golden brown and puffed high about one hour cheese potato souffle potato puff six potatoes two onions one tablespoon butter or margarine one cup hot milk three quarter cup grated cheddar cheese two tablespoons salt a dash of pepper two egg yolks well beaten two egg whites beaten stiff one quarter cup grated cheddar cheese cook potatoes and onions together until tender and put through a riser mix with all the other ingredients except the egg whites and the cheddar fold in the egg whites mix thoroughly pour into a buttered baking dish sprinkle the one quarter cup of cheddar on top and bake in moderate oven about one half hour until golden brown and well puffed serve instantly variations of this popular souffle leave out the onion and simplify matters by using two cups of mashed potatoes sometimes one tablespoon of ketchup and another of minced parsley is added to the mixture or onion juice alone to take the place of the cooked onions about a tablespoon full or scant the English and cacochting such a potato puff or souffle are inclined to make it extra peppery as they do most of their cheese souffles not only a dust of black pepper but as much cayenne as may be stood on the face of a sixpence cheese fritters souffle these combine ham with parmesan cheese and are even more delicately handled in the making then crepe sousette puffs three and one puffs one cup grated Swiss parmesan one cup cream cheese five eggs lightly beaten salt and pepper mix the cheeses into one mass moistened with the beaten eggs splashed on at intervals when thoroughly incorporated put in ramekins tiny tens, cups or any sort of little mold of any shape hot of in about ten minutes until richly browned such miniature souffles serve as liaison officers for this entire section since they are baked in ramekins or ramekins from the French word for the small baking dish that holds only one portion these may be paper boxes usually round earthenware, china hyrax of any attractive shape in which to bake or serve the puffs more commonly in America at least puffs are made without ramekin dishes as follows fried puffs two egg whites beaten stiff one half cup grated cheese one tablespoon flour salt paprika into the stiff egg whites fold the cheese flour and seasonings when thoroughly mixed pat into shape desired roll in crumbs and fry rogerford puffs one eighth pound genuine French rogerford one egg white beaten stiff eight crackers or two inch bread rounds cream the rogerford fold in the egg white pile on crackers and bake 15 minutes in slow oven the constant repetition of beaten stiff in these recipes may give the impression that the whites are badly beaten up but such is not the case they are simply whipped to peaks and left moist and glistening as a teardrop with a slight sad droop to them that shows there is still room for the air to expand and puff things up in cooking parmesan puffs make a spread of mayonnaise or other salad dressing with equal parts of imported parmesan grated fine spread on a score or more of crackers in a roomy pan and broil a couple of minutes golden brown use only the best parmesan imported from Italy or second best from Argentina where the rich pompous grass and Italian settlers get together on excellent parmesan and romano never buy parmesan already grated it quickly loses its flavor breakfast puffs one cup flour one cup milk one quarter cup finely grated cheese one egg lightly beaten one half teaspoon salt mix all together to a smooth, light batter and fill ramekins or cups half full then bake in quick oven until they are puffing over the top and golden brown Danish fondue puffs one stale roll one half cup boiling hot milk salt pepper two cups freshly grated cheddar cheese four egg yolks beaten lemon yellow four egg whites beaten stiff soak roll in boiling milk and beat to a paste mix with cheese and egg yolks when smooth and thickened fold in the egg whites and fill ramekins tins cups or paper forms and slowly bake until puffed up and golden brown New England cheese puffs one cup sifted flour one teaspoon baking powder one half teaspoon salt one half teaspoon Hungarian paprika one quarter teaspoon dry mustard two egg yolks beaten lemon yellow one half cup milk one cup freshly grated cheddar cheese two egg whites beaten stiff but not dry sift dry ingredients together mix yolks with milk and stir in add cheese and when thoroughly incorporated fold in the egg whites to make a smooth batter drop from a big spoon onto hot deep fat and cook until well browned caraway seeds are sometimes added poppy seeds are also used and either of these makes a snappier puff especially tasty when served with soup a few drops of Tabasco give this an extra tang cream cheese puffs one half pound cream cheese one cup milk four eggs lightly beaten a half teaspoon salt one half teaspoon dry mustard soften cheese by heating over hot water remove from heat and add milk eggs and seasoning beat until well blended then pour into custard cups, ramekins or any other individual baking dishes that are attractive enough to serve the puffs in ramekins or ramekins some ramekin dishes are made so exquisitely that they may be collected like snuff bottles ramekins are utterly French both the cooked puffs and the individual dishes in which they are baked essentially a cheese puff this is also a gratin when topped with both cheese and browned breadcrumbs by a sort of poetic cooks license the name is also applied to any kind of cake containing cheese and cooked in the identifying one portion ramekin it is used chiefly in the plural however together with the name of the chief ingredient such as chicken ramekins and cheese ramekins 1 2 eggs 2 tablespoons flour 1 eighth pound butter melted an eighth pound grated cheese mix well and bake in individual molds for 15 minutes cheese ramekins 2 3 tablespoons melted butter each salt and pepper 3 quarter cup breadcrumbs 1 half cup grated cheese 2 eggs lightly beaten 1 and 1 half cups milk mix the first 4 dry ingredients together stir eggs into the milk and add stir to a smooth batter and bake in buttered ramekins standing in water serve piping hot for like souffle and all associated puffs the hot air will puff out of them quickly then they will sink and be inedible 2 ancient English recipes still going strong cheese ramekins 3 grate 1 half pound of any dry rich cheese butter a dozen small paper cases or little boxes of stiff writing paper like souffle cases put a saucepan containing 1 half pint of water over the fire add 2 tablespoons of butter and when the water boils stir in 1 heaping tablespoon of flour beat the mixture until it shrinks away from the sides of the saucepan then stir in the grated cheese remove the paste thus made from the fire and let it partly cool in the meantime separate the yolks from the whites of 3 eggs and beat them until the yolks foam and the whites make a stiff froth put the mixture at once into the buttered paper cases only half filling them and bake in a moderate oven for about 15 minutes as soon as the puffs are done put the cases on a hot dish covered with a folded napkin and serve very hot the most popular cheese for ramekins has always been and still is griere but because the early english also adopted italian parmesan that followed as a close second and remains there today sharp cheddar makes tangy ramekins as will be seen in this second oldster for though it prescribes glaster and cheshire arf and arf both are essentially cheddars glaster has been called a glorified and the latter has long been known as a peculiarly rich and colorful elder brother of cheddar described in kenelmy digby's closet opened as a quick fat rich well tasted cheese cheese ramekins four scrape fine one quarter pound of glaster cheese quarter pound of cheshire cheese beat the scrape cheese with the yolks of four eggs a quarter pound of fresh butter and the crumbs of a french roll boiled and creamed until soft when all this is well mixed and pounded to a paste add the beaten whites of four eggs should the paste seem too stiff two tablespoons of sherry may be added put the paste into paper cases and bake in a dutch oven till nicely browned the ramekins should be served very hot since both glaster cheese and cheshire cheese are not easily come by even in london today it would be hard to reproduce this in the states so the best we can suggest is to use half and half of two of our own great chedders say half coon and half wisconsin longhorn or half tillamook and half herkimer county for there's no doubt about it contrasting cheeses tickle the taste buds and as many as three different kinds put together make puffs all the more perfect ramekins à la parisienne two cups milk one cup cream one ounce salt butter one tablespoon flour a half cup grated gruyere coarsely ground pepper an atom of nutmeg a soup sain of garlic a light touch of powdered sugar eight eggs separated boil milk and cream together melt butter mix in the flour and stir over heat five minutes adding the milk and cream mixture a little at a time when thoroughly cooked remove from heat and stir in cheese seasonings and the yolks of all eight eggs well beaten and the whites of two even better beaten when well mixed fold in the remaining egg whites stiffly beaten until you have a batter as smooth and thick as cream pour this into ramekins of paper porcelain or earthenware filling each about two thirds full to allow for them to puff up as they bake in a very slow oven until golden brown or a little less than two minutes le ramekin moraisien this celebrated specialty of French comté is described as a porridge of water butter, seasoning chopped garlic and toast thickened with minced gruyere and served very hot several French provinces are known for distinctive individual puffs usually served in the dainty, fluted forms they are cooked in in gendarmes l'orene for instance, there are the simply named le ramekin made of flour gruyere and eggs Swiss roquefort ramekins a quarter pound Swiss cheese a quarter pound roquefort cheese a half pound butter eight eggs separated four breakfast rolls crusts removed one half cup cream the batter is made in the usual way with the soft insides of the rolls simmered in the cream and stirred in the egg whites are folded in last as always the batter poured into ramekins part full and baked to a golden brown then they are served spontaneously less they fall puff paced ramekins puff or other pastry is rolled up flat and sprinkled with fine tasty cheese or any cheese mixture such as parmesan with gruyere and or Swiss sapsago for a pecan change but in lesser quantity than the other cheeses used parmesan has long been the favorite for these fold paced into three layers roll out again and dust with more cheese fold once more and roll this out and cut in small fancy shapes to bake 10 to 15 minutes in a hot oven brushing with egg yolk before baking makes these ramekins shine frying pan ramekins melt two ounces of butter let it cool a little and then mix with one half pound of cheese fold in the whites of three eggs beaten stiff but not dry cover frying pan with buttered papers put slices of bread on this and cover with the cheese mixture cook about five minutes take it off and brown it with a salamander there are two schools of salamandering among turofiles one holds that it toughens the cheese and makes it less digestible the other that it simply swell some of the latter addicts have special cheese branding irons made with their monograms to identify their creations whether they be burned on the skins of Welsh rabbits or frying pan ramekins salamandering with an iron that has a gay carnivalesque design can make a sort of Harlequin ramekin casserole ramekin here is the Americanization of a French original in a deep casserole lay alternate slices of white bread and swiss cheese with the cheese slices a bit bigger all round beat two eggs and two cups of milk seasoned with salt and of all things nutmeg proceed to bake like individual ramekins end of chapter 7 read by Dennis Sayers in Modesto, California and for Vox