lighter than easy

Mousses and soufflés, terrines and blancmange, parfait and jelly – there are a great many dishes based on the principle of lightness. Most of these delicacies came to us from the French court kitchen: at the magnificent banquets of the Louis XIV era, they played the role of a kind of interlude, allowing guests to relax and refresh their gastronomic perception in between denser and more substantial appetizers. For the same purpose, royal chefs sought to diversify the list of airy desserts that crowned a meal, which in those days often consisted of several dozen changes and could seriously tire even the most sophisticated gourmet. It is sweet – dessert – varieties of mousses, parfaits and soufflés that are most common today. However, in reality, the possibilities that the airy structure of the dish gives to the culinary specialist are truly inexhaustible.

Terrines

Made from meat, fish, poultry or seafood, terrine can be served cold as an appetizer or warm as a main course. The key point is minced meat for terrine: it should be as light, airy and homogeneous as possible, so it is better not to pass the products for it through a meat grinder, but chop in a blender, and use beaten proteins instead of whole eggs. For a more delicate texture, terrines are baked in the oven by placing a baking dish in a baking sheet filled with hot water and covering it with two layers of foil. And for greater juiciness, the form can be laid out with thin slices of bacon.

Souffle

Despite the spectacular appearance of the soufflé, it is not difficult to prepare it. A particularly convenient variety is the twice-baked souffle: their advantage is that all the preliminary work can be done in advance, and the soufflé can be quickly brought to readiness before the guests arrive. An excellent option for a gala dinner is a Roquefort soufflé. Its basis will be bechamel sauce, in which it is necessary to dissolve the crumbled Roquefort. The resulting thick sauce is carefully mixed with separately whipped proteins and yolks, laid out in molds and baked for 20 minutes (it is better to pour a little boiling water on the baking sheet in which you will cook the soufflé). After that, the souffle should be cooled, removed from the mold, transferred to a greased baking sheet, covered with foil and put in the refrigerator – in this form it can be stored for up to two days. The rest will require neither strength nor time: half an hour before serving, the baking sheet will simply need to be rearranged into a preheated oven, lightly sprinkled with finely chopped Roquefort for each soufflé, and greased with heavy cream or sour cream a couple of minutes before serving. By experimenting with different types of cheese and adding finely chopped vegetables (boiled broccoli, pumpkin sauteed in butter, roasted peppers), you can create the most delicate soufflés to your own taste.

Mousse

The improvement of modern cooking technologies allows turning almost any product into an airy mousse. However, this applies primarily to restaurant cuisine – at home, sweet mousses are still the most popular, among which the austere and velvety chocolate mousse remains the full-fledged king. Its simplest recipe involves the use of only four ingredients: chocolate, water, eggs (200 pieces are required for XNUMX g of chocolate) and a couple of tablespoons of sugar. Melt the chocolate, mixing thoroughly, in a water bath with a small amount of water (it should be about half as much as chocolate), mix with the yolks, adding them one at a time. Beat the whites with sugar until soft peaks, and then gradually introduce into the chocolate mass, trying to keep their lightness and volume to the maximum. After a couple of hours in the refrigerator, the mixture will harden and acquire an amazingly delicate texture. Such a mousse can serve as the basis for further experiments: add strong coffee, orange zest, brandy or whipped cream to it, and you will get a variety and original options for a weightless chocolate dessert.