in moderate oven. Serve piping hot,
for like Souffles and all associated Puffs, the hot air will puff
out of them quickly; then they will sink and be inedible.

TWO ANCIENT ENGLISH RECIPES, STILL GOING STRONG

Cheese Ramekins III

Grate 1/2 pound of any dry, rich cheese. Butter a dozen small
paper cases, or little boxes of stiff writing paper like Souffle
cases. Put a saucepan containing 1/2 pint of water over the fire,
add 2 tablespoons of butter, and when the water boils, stir in 1
heaping tablespoonful of flour. Beat the mixture until it shrinks
away from the sides of the saucepan; then stir in the grated
cheese. Remove the paste thus made from the fire, and let it
partly cool. In the meantime separate the yolks from the whites
of three eggs, and beat them until the yolks foam and the whites
make a stiff froth. Put the mixture at once into the buttered
paper cases, only half-filling them (since they rise very high
while being baked) with small slices of cheese, and bake in a
moderate oven for about 15 minutes. As soon as the Puffs are
done, put the cases on a hot dish covered with a folded napkin,
and serve very hot.

The most popular cheese for Ramekins has always been, and still is,
Gruyere. But because the early English also adopted Italian Parmesan,
that followed as a close second, and remains there today.

Sharp Cheddar makes tangy Ramekins, as will be seen in this second
oldster; for though it prescribes Gloucester and Cheshire
"'arf-and-'arf," both are essentially Cheddars. Gloucester has been
called "a glorified Cheshire" and the latter has long been known as a
peculiarly rich and colorful elder brother of Cheddar, described in
Kenelme Digby's _Closet Open'd_ as a "quick, fat, rich, well-tasted
cheese."

Cheese Ramekins IV

Scrape fine 1/4 pound of Gloucester cheese and 1/4 pound of
Cheshire cheese. Beat this scraped cheese in a mortar with the
yolks of 4 eggs, 1/4 pound of fresh butter, and the crumbs of a
French roll boiled in cream until soft. When all this is well
mixed and pounded to a paste, add the beaten whites of 4 eggs.
Should the paste seem too stiff, 1 or 2 tablespoons of sherry may
be added. Put the paste into paper cases, and bake in a Dutch
oven till nicely browned. The Ramekins should be served very hot.

Since both Gloucester cheese and Cheshire cheese