Educational Media Reviews Online

Chef Greg Tompkins, an alumnus of the California Culinary Academy, indeed "removes the mystery" from making souffles as he prepares three different versions: a savory white cheddar cheese and onion souffle with stout; a shrimp and spinach-filled souffle roulade; and individual sweet passion fruit souffles with creme anglaise. The reviewer learned one secret even her mother didn't know: always stir about one-third of the whipped egg whites into the other ingredients before folding, to "loosen" the heavier mixture. Disappointing, however, was the total lack of a list of ingredients. The program simply dives right into preparation as the Chef mentions each ingredient by name as he adds it. One finds out only at the very end, after sponsors are acknowledged a second time, that the recipes are available in a cookbook for sale through an 800 number.

The camera work on this video is well done. The visual flows nicely from Chef Tompkins to shots of combining ingredients to effective overhead views of bubbling eggs and cheese to the finished product. The script and dialogue are fairly good -- crisp and concise, with mention of implements and safety tips skillfully woven into the verbal instructions. However, the audio is a bit muted or fuzzy due to the extended play recording, making some of the words difficult to understand. The 30 minutes run time is misleading; a full 6 minutes is devoted to sponsor acknowledgments, ads for the Academy's instructional programs, and cookbook sales for KQED Books.

An experienced cook will learn much from this program, but novices may well be lost. Appropriate for high school to adult audiences. Recommended only for large public libraries with an extensive collection of basic cooking skills titles, or smaller libraries with Internet access and staff to assist in locating information.

A number of Web sites offer basic information on preparing the perfect souffle:

The Mining Company has a number of links in their "living/good/drink/French cuisine" section;

Captain Food News: an on-line magazine for serious cooks has "souffles demystified".

Souffle recipes can be found at:

1st Traveler's Choice Internet Cookbook offers links to recipes from various inns and bed-and-breakfast establishments;

the rec.food.recipes news group has an archive which includes souffles.

Easy-to-Make Souffles is one of 26 programs in The California Culinary Academy's "Cooking at the Academy II" series. A few other titles in series II include Egg Cookery, Simply Shellfish, Savory and Sweet Gallettes, and Delicious Pies. "Cooking at the Academy I" offers 13 videos illustrating more basic cooking techniques such as Frying, Soups, and Lighter Cuisine.