Take the maize when it is quite fresh and still milky, and cook it either in steam or salted water; taking care to retain the leaves on the ears. When cooked, the leaves are drawn [652] ]back so as to represent stalks, and the ears are bared if they be served whole. This done, set the ears on a napkin, and send a hors-d’œuvre dish of fresh butter to the table with them.
If the maize has to be grilled, put the ears on a grill in the oven, and, when they have swollen and are of a golden colour, withdraw the grains and set the latter on a napkin. Sometimes, too, the ears are served whole.
When maize is served as an accompaniment, the grains are separated from the stalk and cohered with butter or cream, exactly like peas.
Failing fresh maize, excellent preserved kinds are to be found on the market.
[2170—SOUFFLÉ DE MAÏS A LA CRÈME]
Cook the maize in water or steam; rub it quickly through tammy; put it into a saucepan with a small piece of butter, and quickly dry it.
This done, add sufficient fresh cream to this purée to make a somewhat soft paste. Thicken this paste with the yolks of three eggs, per lb. of purée, and combine it with the whites of four eggs beaten to a stiff froth. Mould and cook after the manner of an ordinary [soufflé].
[2171—SOUFFLÉ DE MAÏS AU PAPRIKA]
Before rubbing the maize through a sieve, add to it two tablespoonfuls of chopped onion fried in butter, and a large pinch of paprika per lb. of maize. Proceed for the rest of the operation as in the case of No. [2170].
N.B.—These two [soufflés] are served as a garnish and may be cooked either in a timbale or in small [cassolettes]. They constitute excellent adjuncts to large, poached fowls.