Blue Lake Soufflé

The connoisseurs can have their caviar, the great chefs can nibble their delicacies.  Let the food critics argue over the best tasting rare edibles while the Gods consume their ambrosia but I will never want for such delights.  It is they who should envy me for I have feasted on Blue Lake Soufflé.

This mouth watering mixture of exotic ingredients has been judged too good for common folks and the recipe has been a closely guarded secret since it was first served in the early sixties.  It was discovered by a group of adventurous mountain men trying to develop a new kind of sustenance for long journeys.  They shocked the backpacking culinary world by introducing the greatest thing since sliced jerky.

There have been many attempts to imitate but they are always dismal failures that wouldn't qualify as second rate chip beef gravy.  It is unlikely that the dish will ever be widely known since everyone who has tried it agrees that a single serving will last a lifetime.  Please don't assume there is anything unpleasant about Blue Lake Soufflé because the fortunate few who have tasted it are unanimous in their insistence that it is simply a question of too much of a good thing being dangerous for the unprepared palette.

Like that famous beer, “It's the water” that makes this soufflé unique.  This special water can only be found in shallow lakes above 6ØØØ feet elevation in the heat of summer when the plankton and one celled life forms are at their collective climax.  The water should be a shade of blue-green with a sprinkling of yellow pollen like a dash of jaundiced paprika.

The substance of the soufflé is comprised primarily of several starches and staples that must be aged.  This aging process is achieved through a modern dehydration technique that allows the stuff to be vacuum packed for optimum flavor.  It is during the re-hydration when the real magic takes place, where success can hinge on a matter of a few degrees of temperature or a few drops of the precious water.

If not properly handled the eggs become yellow soup and the meat turns into unchewable dumplings.  For a proper soufflé you need perfect conditions: the right place at the right time of day and year cooked in the right utensils over a certain kind of fire made with a specific type of wood and if all goes well and the gods are willing you might just be lucky enough to taste that flavour that still puts a lump in my throat even after all these years.

The most distinctive feature of the true Blue Lake Soufflé is it's color.  I have heard that black is the absence of color and white represents all colors combined but the color of this soufflé surpassed such simple concepts.  It might have been gray but for some streaks of brightness that couldn't be gray.  It could have been brown except for some hues that never knew that color.  So we decided it must be described by a new color all its own aptly known as soufflé lake blue.  We originally thought its strange color was attributable to the dying daylight and the uncertain images common to that time of day but the next morning we found the color to be even more bizarre by the light of day.  The peculiarity of its appearance was exceeded only by its extraordinary taste.

Again I wish to implore the reader that there was nothing whatsoever disagreeable about this dish, it was just so unlike anything known to mankind at that time.  We considered taking some of it home with us for possible patent rights as a bonding agent or perhaps a perfume additive but was found to be to heavy to carry and unstable even in the smallest portions.

Oh how I pity those poor unfortunate souls that will never know the pure ecstasy that it is to dine on the rarest delicacy of all foods: Blue Lake soufflé.

Craig Rich
198X