Soufflé de Jambon Perigourdine

Soufflé de Jambon Perigourdine (ham soufflé in the Périgord manner) teaches the central truth of every hot soufflé: the whites can lift only what the base is strong enough to carry. Here the base carries ham, butter, cream, and two layers of black truffle, so it must be thick, smooth, and merely lukewarm before a single white is folded.

The brigade around the original entry had a saucier, a stock never off the fire, and a salamander ready, but this dish needs none of them. Its real assumption was a finished ham soufflé preparation at hand, a buttered timbale, and cooks who understood the instruction to bake it in the usual way. For four, one saucepan makes the roux-bound panade, a food processor replaces pounding and sieving the ham, and a 2-quart straight-sided dish replaces the service timbale. The separate brigade preparation is scaffolding and goes; the layers of truffle slices, the chopped truffle over the surface, and immediate baking are the dish and stay exactly where the entry puts them. One cook, one stove, one evening.

When it comes out, the crown is butter-gold, the inside pale and tender with rosy ham, and each spoonful catches a dark truffle seam. Cool the ham base until merely lukewarm before folding, then bake at once. That is the step that decides the evening.