The menu of The Greyhound in Broughton says they didn’t make it as the pub’s signature dish. For me it’s the best example of the dish that I have tasted and that is the reason why I return again and again for more – Laurence Civil.
Ryan Lamb is a classically trained chef who learnt the craft of making the classic French dish while working with Chef Alex Aitken at The Jetty in Christchurch, Hampshire. The baked egg-based dish was born in France in the early eighteenth century. The name is the past participle of the French verb souffler which means to blow and inflate. That is why in the preparation of the first bake it is important to get lots of air into the mix. Then to handle it with care to ensure as little as possible is knocked out during the cooking process. Ryan’s ability to produce this first bake stage to a high level was discovered by Alex early in Ryan’s career. His first bake soufflés were shipped to Alex’s other restaurants for the other chefs to simply pour on the cream and cheese and bake to order, hence ‘twice baked’.
When Ryan opened The Greyhound with his wife Kerry as the perfect front of house hostess, he has continued making these soufflés, tweaking Alex’s recipe and experimenting with different creams and cheeses giving different results. Sometimes there was too much oil, too heavy, not strong enough flavour, he corrected them all. No matter how I asked, their magic formula remains a guarded secret. What matters is that their soufflés are consistently perfectly smooth with a crisp top glaze no thicker than a sheet of air mail paper.
Their dining experience offers cutlery that weighs comfortably in the hand paired with a plain linen napkin. Wine is poured into a glass that can be comfortably lifted to the mouth with a stem long enough for fingers not to touch the bowl of the glass.
Fancy names would be superficial, they deliver elegantly comfortable hospitality delivered by Kerry and her team in a setting that feels that you are in their home.
Their Red Fox Soufflés are sold to over 20 different food retailers and restaurants.
The Greyhound
2 High Street,
Broughton,
Stockbridge
SO20 8AA
W greyhoundbroughton.co.uk
A discovery journey with Laurence Civil of his best tasting experiences 
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