Lobster Soufflé
One of the old classic recipes that I still prepare once a year or so is lobster souffle, a specialty of the Plaza Athenee in Paris. I don't prepare it exactly as we used to there because the lobster was overcooked in the original recipe, although I didn't know it at the time. It was cooked first in a stew, shells and all. Then the meat was extracted, combined with the sauce, and cooked again under the souffle for 30 minutes or so. It was finally presented with medallions of lobster tail and truffle slices on top. It was quite good, but the lobster meat was always chewy.

There were fifty chefs in the kitchen, and the goal for each of us was to be able to make the lobster souffle. The beauty ofthe system was that when the souffle was done properly, anyone of the chefs could have prepared it. It would have the same smell, the same look, and the same taste. At that time, the learning represented teamwork; it was the work of "many" instead of the expression of "one:' This lobster dish is still made at the Plaza Athenee today in the same way, and it still costs diners a small-or not so small-fortune.

The original lobster souffle was sometimes called Annoricaine, the old name of Brittany, and other times called Americaine, or in the style of America. The lobster Americaine was supposedly created by a French chef named Pierre Freisse, who lived in America in the nineteenth century. Back in France, he devised the lobster souffle in remembrance of his time working as a chef in Chicago. Whatever name is given to this dish-Americaine or Annoricaine-it begins with a stew of lobster flambeed with cognac and containing white wine, tomatoes, garlic, onions, and tarragon. As a child, I remember my cousin Merret preparing a similar stew for a very special occasion using spiny lobster, langouste, rather than the standarc lobster, which was not readily available and was even more costly than the Langouste. Never transformed into the more elegant souffle, her stew was served on the shell, as it is still served in bistros, where patrons eat it with their fingers and suck the sauce off the shells.

The Plaza Athenee souffle was more elegant. Although the stew was prepared in much the same way, the meat was removed from the shells after 15 to 20 minutes of cooking, and the sauce was strained and enhanced with butter. Some of that sauce was served with bite-size pieces of lobster that were arranged in a rectangular silver gratin dish, called en escoffier in honor of the great nineteenth-century chef of that name. A souffle mixture- basically, a cheese souffle made with Gruyere or Emmenthaler- was poured directly over the warm lobster pieces and sauce. This two-layer souffle was then baked immediately in a hot oven until puffed and brown.

When removed from the oven, the top was garnished alternately with thin medallions of lobster tail and slices of black truffle. A little additional sauce, consisting of some of the original sauce, re-strained and finished with cream and brandy, was served with the souffle. An elabora~e dish and a great creation and specialty of the Plaza Athenee, lobster souffle was usually served as the special main course of a menu, or as a first course in smaller portions.
The specific smell of the lobster Americaine with its cheese souffle topping baking in the oven will remain ingrained in my memory and always make me visualize the kitchen of the Plaza Athenee.

In my variation, I steam the lobsters very briefly in water, and immediately remove the barely cooked meat from the claws and tails, and set it aside. At this point, the flesh of the lobster bodies is still undercooked. I make the Americaine sauce with the shells and steaming water, and cook the cheese souffle on the side by itself. At serving time, I combine the lobster meat, sauce, and souffle in warm soup plates, and serve immediately.

This is a complex, sophisticated dish that is not prepared on the spur of the moment but for a really special occasion. It is a dish to enjoy with good friends, and to remember for a long time.

For six people, buy THREE 1LB-POUND LOBSTERS. Put them in a large stainless-steel pot, and add about 4 CUPS OF WATER. Cover, and bring to a strong boil, which may take nearly 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium, and continue boiling gently, still covered, for about 5 minutes. Set aside, covered, for 30 to 45 minutes, until the lobsters in the pot are cool enough to handle. Retain the broth for use in the sauce. Break off the tails and claws from each of the lobsters, and crack the shells, taking care to retain any liquid released and add it to the broth. Remove all the meat, split the tail in half lengthwise, and remove and discard the intestinal tract. Cut each half tail into three or four pieces, and halve the claw meat. Arrange all the meat in a gratin dish lined with plastic wrap. Set aside. The recipe can be prepared ahead to this point and refrigerated.

For the Americaine sauce, heat A COUPLE OF TABLESPOONS OF OLIVE OIL in a very large saucepan. Cut the lobster bodies open, and remove and reserve any liquid tomalley or roe in a bowl. Cut each body into four or five pieces and add to the pan along with the shells from the tails and claws. Saute over high heat for 10 to 12, minutes, until the shells begin to brown and become crusty, and most of the moisture has evap¬orated. There is a wonderfully rich, nutty smell that is specific to the browning of the shells, and you want to have that piquant smell to give intensity to the sauce. Add A COUPLE OF TABLESPOONS OF COGNAC, and light it to flambe the shells; the aroma will intensify. Add 1 CUP OF COARSELY CHOPPED ONION, 1/2 CUP OF COARSELY CHOPPED CARROT, and A CHOPPED CELERY RIB. Cook with the shells for 4 to 5 minutes, and then add 1 1/2 CUPS OF COARSELY CHOPPED FRESH TOMATO, A BIG SPRIG EACH OF THYME AND TARRAGON, A FEW BAY LEAVES, 2 OR 3 TABLESPOONS OF TOMATO PASTE, and about 1 1/2 CUPS OF WHITE WINE. Pour in the juice that the lobsters were steamed in, as well as all the reserved liquid that came out of the lobsters. Bring the mixture to a boil, and boil gently for 40 to 45 minutes. Add SALT AND PEPPER to taste.

Strain the mixture through a colander set over a bowl, and shake the colander to get as much juice from the solids as possible. Then, strain the juice again, this time through a very fine strainer. Pour all of that liquid into a saucepan, and reduce it to about 3 cups. (If you are miserly in the kitchen, as I am, you may want to make a stock from the leftover shells. Instead of discarding them, as is conventionally done, put them in a large stockpot with 4 quarts of water, bring to a boil, and boil gently for a good hour. Strain this second stock and freeze for use as a base for a lobster chowder, bisque, or consomme.)

Bring the 3 cups of reduced liquid to a boil, and thicken it lightly with about 1 TABLESPOON OF POTATO STARCH, ARROWROOT, OR CORNSTARCH dissolved in 3 TABLESPOONS OF WATER. This will give the sauce a viscosity slightly thicker than heavy cream. Bring to a boil, and stir in 1/2 CUP OF HEAVY CREAM, SALT AND PEPPER to taste, and 2 TEASPOONS OF COGNAC. The sauce is now ready. Break A FEW TABLESPOONS OF FIRM UNSALTED BUTTER into pieces and distribute them on top of the sauce. When the butter has melted, spread it lightly on the surface of the sauce with the tines of a fork. This will prevent the sauce from forming a skin or discoloring. This butter will be stirred into the sauce at servingtime.

When you are ready to complete the recipe, melt HALF A STICK (4 TABLESPOONS) OF BUTTER in a skillet, and pour it gently over the reserved lobster meat (leave it in the plastic wrap, which allows you to use less butter than ifusinganopengratin dish). Add A DASH OF SALT and FRESHLY GROUND BLACK PEPPER, and sprinkle on out 1 1/2 TEASPOONS OF CHOPPED FRESH TARRAGON. Bring the plastic wrap back over the lobster meat, so the meat is held tightly together and can soak in the butter.

For the souffle, begin by making a bechamel sauce: Melt 3 TABLESPOONS OF UNSALTED BUTTER in a saucepan, and cook until light brown in color to give some intensity to the sauce. Add 4 TABLESPOONS OF ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR, mix well, and stir in 1 OZ TO 1 1/2 CUPS OF MILK and A DASH OF SALT AND FRESHLY GROUND PEPPER. Mix well with a whisk, bring to a boil, and boil for about 30 seconds. Meanwhile, separate 6 LARGE EGGS, preferably jumbo organic eggs. Add 4 of the egg yolks to the hot bechamel, and stir well to incorporate them. (Reserve the remaining yolks for another recipe.) You need about 1 CUP GRATED GRUYERE OR EMMENTHALER CHEESE and about 1/2 CUP OF GRATED PARMESAN CHEESE.