Refining the process to create an iconic soufflé

Pace believes that intelligent, well-designed processes coupled with the right systems unlock humans’ ability to operate at their peak; precisely, creatively, emotively, with shared purpose and autonomy.

In pursuit of perfecting process design, Pace invited Michelin-starred chef, Michel Roux Junior, to showcase the art of cooking his iconic soufflé.

During the 56 years of his restaurant, Le Gavroche, one million soufflés were served. At his cookery school, Sauce at The Langham, London, he now keeps a soufflé tally on a blackboard on the wall.

Roux believes there’s a process to making a soufflé. Once you have the foundations of cooking and you know it by heart, then you can be creative. The skill is there, the process is there, and only then can you add your personal touch.

We invited our audience of trainee chefs to make a soufflé under the watchful gaze and taste buds of Roux. Each trainee was given a Raspberry Soufflé recipe to follow, and provided with utensils and ingredients. Would Chef class their attempt as a soufflé?

Despite everyone having the same recipe and ingredients, every soufflé was different. And needless to say, the soufflé tally didn’t go up by the number of trainees in the kitchen.

Once all the soufflés had been tasted, Roux demonstrated his mastery and excellence when he showed the audience how it is done:

1. Success is defined by consistency in service. From how the dish is buttered to the setting of your oven, it’s how well technologies, people and processes can be balanced to deliver the perfect result. Consistency is only achieved by constant practice over time – a million soufflés means Michel can now add individual flair.
   
2. Constant, subtle iteration is better than periodic big shifts. In designing new recipes,we should not be afraid of making mistakes but recipes have to be repeatable to deliver that consistency. Recipes that are not repeatable are tweaked and iterated until they are.
   
3. If processes are sufficiently designed and practiced, teams can be more agile to external threats, or, in the case of cookery, major shifts such as a kitchen refit or the adoption of induction. Change should be should embraced, kitchens have changed enormously since Le Gavroche first opened in 1956, but Roux believes you have to be a master of the kit, not the kit be the master of you.

His key learning point though…read the recipe!

Pacesetters was a series of events that looked across industries and disciplines to explore the relationship between systems, process and human autonomy in creating the best performance.

Watch our previous events here.