Gougères

For an Oscar moment and to celebrate the arts

To practice any art, no matter how well or how badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. So do it. - Kurt Vonnegut

Ricciotto Canudo, an early Italian film theoretician living in Paris, publisher of the avant-garde magazine “Montjoie!” promoting art, coined the concept of cinema as the seventh art in 1913. Canudo defended filmmaking as a new form of art, claiming it was “a superb conciliation of the Rhythms of Space and the Rhythms of Time.” He saw it as “plastic art in motion,” a combination of the other forms of art that preceded it, architecture, sculpture, painting, music, poetry, and dance. Filmmaking is now as commonplace, as unremarkable as picking up one’s phone and clicking an app. And yet movies still have the power to move us, to astonish us, to inspire us. Like all forms of art.

As we prepare to gather round our televisions to watch the Oscars with anticipation, and as those golden statuettes are awarded to the creative talents behind the year’s most popular films, directors and actors, writers and composers, designers and beyond, the creative people we see and those we don’t, we would do well to remember that this new administration is trying to defund and eliminate all grants, committees, and projects for the arts. We need to pay attention to this because it is disastrous for us as a nation.

The creative arts are a reflection of our humanity, the expression - in a multitude of forms - of our skills, our imagination, of our experiences, both individual and collective. Not only do the arts reflect our society and who we are, but all that we produce -- whether movies and theater, music, written stories, paintings and sculpture, and, yes, even our culinary contributions -- preserves our society, preserves our communities, and preserves our history.

This attempt to eliminate the arts is an attempt to eliminate our humanity, to break up our communities to suppress our individuality. Denying us the arts is denying us the conversations about culture and heritage. Erasing the arts is erasing growth and societal change and the discussions that help us understand and accept these things. Removing art in all its glorious and thoughtful forms is cutting out our collective soul.

“There will be no art, no literature, no science. When we are omnipotent we shall have no more need of science. There will be no distinction between beauty and ugliness. There will be no curiosity, no enjoyment of the process of life. All competing pleasures will be destroyed. But always… there will be the intoxication of power…there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless.” - George Orwell, “1984”

We must fight this with all of our power. Do it together or alone, do it any way you can, but do it. Create, express, feel, and share.

“The Fine Arts are five in number: Painting, Music, Poetry, Sculpture, and Architecture--whereof the principle branch is Confectionery (pastry).” - Marie-Antoine Carême

My art is baking. It allows me to express myself while making others happy with what I create. And I cannot offer you a pastry more appropriate for the elegance of Oscar watching than the French gougère, the cheese puff. These light and airy yet flavorful puffs are the perfect finger food to accompany a glass of your favorite libation, whether wine or Champagne, a fruit juice or sparkling water. And while slightly technical to make, they are, if the directions are followed carefully, also quite easy and fun to make. And sublime to eat.

Embrace the evening in front of the Oscars and remember what Stella Adler said: “Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one.”

Gougères

(You’ll find step-by-step photo instructions as well as the history of the gougère on my Substack)

6 tablespoons (90 grams) unsalted butter

½ cup (125 ml) water

½ cup (125 ml) milk

½ teaspoon salt

Grindings of black pepper

Pinch nutmeg

1 cup (140/145 grams) flour

4 large eggs, broken into a bowl ready to use

1 lightly heaped cup grated cheese (* see note below)

To top:

1 egg lightly beaten to blend

Extra grated cheese

• For the cheese: Use fresh Parmesan, Gruyère, or another hard, mature, flavorful, nutty cheese such as comté, Emmental, or Abondance - I use half Parmesan + half one of the other cheeses, grated then lightly piled in the measuring cup. Use pre-grated or grate your own. For the topping, use either, but I prefer the Gruyère/comté/Emmental.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Have ready a large baking sheet lined with oven-safe parchment paper.

Place the butter, water, milk, salt, a few generous grindings of black pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg in a medium saucepan. Place over medium-low heat and heat just until the butter is completely melted and the liquid is steaming.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and dump in the flour all at once. Using a wooden spoon, stir vigorously until a dough forms and keep stirring until the dough is smooth. If there are tiny lumps of flour, don’t worry as these will come out in the next step.

Place the saucepan back on medium-low heat and, stirring constantly, cook the dough for just about 2 or 3 minutes to dry it out. Stir (rather vigorously) around and up from the bottom of the pot, pressing out the tiny lumps of flour as you stir, turn, and fold the dough.

Remove the saucepan from the heat. I scrape the dough into a large Pyrex mixing bowl. Add the four eggs one at a time, stirring each egg (vigorously) into the dough to incorporate completely before adding the next until all four have been added and the dough is smooth. (this is a slippery process until the egg is worked into the dough, but keep stirring!)

Stir in the grated cheese(s).

Using a tablespoon, scoop the dough out and push onto the lined baking sheet forming small mounds (keep them light, making sure not to pack the dough). Space the mounds an inch or so apart from each other to leave room for them to rise and puff separately.

When you’ve filled your baking sheet, dab each mound of dough lightly but all over with the beaten egg and top with a bit of grated cheese.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes, depending on how big or small you make your gougère puffs. I have the tendency to remove the gougère(s) a bit too early, which means they are undercooked in the center. Leave them in until they are super well puffed and a deep golden brown color. They will also last longer if cooked until just crispy.

Gougères are best eaten warm.

Jamie Schler is an American living in France. She owns a hotel and writes the Substack Life’s a Feast.

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