Soufflés: well worth the effort

During a recent weekend I had the opportunity to plan a meal for me and my wife; on the Saturday she was going to be on an all-day course and I had a few jobs to tick off, which would be finished by late afternoon.

The meal was starter of tomato, mozzarella and basil salad, then moules-frites and then lemon soufflé. The first two courses were easy enough, but having never made soufflés before I read and re-read the recipes, double-checked the ingredients and then made a start.

With certain recipes there is some latitude; if a pinch becomes a teaspoon it's not the end of the world, but with soufflés, which must be one of the most exacting items to produce, I was very careful with everything.

When ready for the oven the mixture was carefully spooned into coffee cups (I didn't any ramekins), which were placed in the oven and the timer duly set.

The first two courses were delicious, as expected, but the tension mounted (for me, at least) as the time approached when I needed to see if the dessert had imploded or risen. It wasn't quite like a scene from The Great British Bake Off, but there was much celebrating when I saw that they had RISEN!

My first batch of this classic French dessert had been a success and they were sublime.

All that is left is this image that I snapped before I tucked in, which shows a soufflé, which has risen beautifully.

I was delighted to have tried something new and equally pleased with the result, so I would say to anyone: have a go, try something new, what have you got to lose?

Holidays in the UK: a growing trend?

A colleague recently commented that if the weather in this country could be guaranteed to be hot and sunny, as it has been recently, there would be no need to go abroad.

Au contraire, mon ami. Irrespective of the weather we would still be looking to go abroad and it isn't (for me and my family) just for the weather. Of course the sun and good weather is appealing for anyone living in a country whose skies are generally 50 shades of grey, but surely that misses the point of what else you get from being abroad.

Experiencing other cultures, climates, customs and cuisine does broaden the mind; you see life from other perspectives (that of being the foreigner, for one) and by definition you really are away from 'it all' whatever that means to people if you are not surrounded by familiarity.

This year we're heading to the shores of Lake Geneva and having just checked Météo France's website the local temperature is going to be up in the early-mid 30s. There will be some storms, as we have experienced at other French lakes, especially as the site is over 300 metres above sea level and the surrounding mountains of the Haute-Savoie region (rising up to the heights of Mont Blanc (5,600m) the highest mountain range in Western Europe) provide the perfect geography for thunder storms (albeit, short-lived).

At the time of writing, and looking forward to being away, the heavens have opened and there's a thunder storm raging; no idea if and when the sun will re-appear but there are certainly no doubts in this household about heading across la Manche this year.

Bon voyage.