My mom used to work, which meant she rarely got home much more than a half hour before my dad. As a result, once I got old enough to reliably light the gas oven (a trusting bunch, my family!) I was often put in charge of dinner. Mom would set things out and point me to the directions, but the work of it was mine to do.
So it was a fairly natural progression for me to take over making weeknight suppers after Mom died. (This wasn’t a sexist thing - everyone in the house cooked… but I was home from middle school by 3:30, while Dad and my brother didn’t even get out of work until 5:00.)
Initially, I pretty much continued to make the same dishes that Mom had shown me. But somewhere around the age of 14, with a couple of years of not having poisoned anyone under my belt, I started to branch out. I’d haul out our gargantuan old cooking encyclopedia and browse and think.
When I got to the “S” dishes, I saw a recipe for shrimp souffle. Now, I'd never had one - all I knew about souffles was what I’d learned from old 1950's sitcoms: they fell easily… and then the woman burst into tears.
Yet, there’s an allure to the idea of a souffle, isn’t there? It sounds terribly high-falutin’, for one thing, and challenging to boot… yet when I looked at the recipe, it didn’t actually seem that hard. I figured the time had come for me to conquer the souffle.
Which, surprisingly, I did. Probably the biggest case of beginner’s luck ever, but I actually made a shrimp souffle that was light, golden brown, rose high, and tasted good. (btw- I’ve never made one since. I figured I’d better quit while I was ahead!)
Proudly, I carried the dish to the table and served it up. Dad and Bro’ oohed and aahed and dug right in. On tenterhooks, I waited for the verdict.
Dad looked at me and smiled.
“Hey, this is really good, for a change!”
"…and then the woman burst into tears."
Or started to, anyhow. Except that just then, my brother began howling with laughter and Dad realized how the words had come out and quickly scrambled to put his compliment right.
“No, no! That’s not what I meant! No! What I meant waaasss…”
So my brother was on one side of the table in hysterics and poor Dad was on the other, falling over himself trying to right the inadvertent wrong, and eventually none of us could breathe, we were laughing so hard.
Shrimp Souffle-
Good for a change.
9 comments:
Heeheehee! We've all opened mouth and inserted foot from time to time. It's nice that this time, it all ended in laughter. Also, it might be time for the souffle to make a reprise.
Hi Jz - the souffle to terrify everyone ... yes I used to make them too - but not at 14!! And plain ones ... ie cheese ... but I rather fancy the idea of a shrimp one ... so good and not so good with breakfast coffee!! Cheers Hilary
Shrimp souffle sounds fantastic. I'd love to have one right now. My mom worked and cooked like a pro, but I did not learn to cook through her (although I think I inherited her cooking abilities). My mother was always too keen to to do it herself, not to teach how (and I now allow no one in the kitchen while I'm cooking ... I don't know why. It's just something I enjoy doing alone).
Well done, 14 year-old, Jz! I'm so impressed. OMG your dad - bet he did not live that down for a long time! Great memory.
Emily In Ecuador | Sunrise in Puerto Lopez, Ecuador
mm-
Yes - we were all very good at laughter in this family. :-)
It gets you through a lot.
But I think I’m considering the souffle as “been there, done that, moving on…”
H-
You just don’t hear about that terror anymore, do you?
I’d like to think we’ve all gotten bold but actually, I think it’s more that people just don’t make as many souffles anymore. - Or so it seems. Maybe it’s just my little corner of the world…
L-
My mom was actually insistent that we learn to cook - at least the basics. Partially so we could help out, partially as a life skill, and partially simply for the enjoyment of it all. As I live alone, having someone in the kitchen with me once in a while is nice… but you sure can get under each other’s feet when you try to tag-team on a dish!
E-
Oh, yeah.
He was still hearing about it 30-some years later!
(And tossing it out first himself, in the “best defense is a good offense” tradition!)
Your poor dad! My brother would have reacted the same way. Come to think of it, my dad would have, too. No wonder I am like I am! I don't do eggs. Or eggy things, so I already know I would not like souffles, but I appreciate that you made a beautiful one, especially at 14, and more especially, because I saw all those same tv shows.
D-
Those shows have a lot to answer for...! ;-D
Soft like a souffle is this post Jz. So tenderly told.
Thank you for sharing this precious memory.
Only you can make me laugh with "they fell easily… and then the woman burst into tears" in a post where I find out about your mother passing when you were in middle school.
xx
A-
Thank you, Arti. :-)
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