Gougères et Chablis

Our final wine pairing features the most delicious blend of flavors that are will tantalize your tastebuds. Chablis and Gougères (aka Cheese Puffs) are the perfect matches for one another. The unique, mild, nutty flavor of the Comté cheese in the Gougères blended with the more complex flavors of this particular Chablis from Domaine Gueguen. For our Gougères, we used a Comté cheese that had been aged for 6 months, while Comté can be aged for as little as 4 months and as long as 24 months, I’d recommend going for Comté that has been aged between 4-6 for the mildest flavor. You can also use Comté’s twin sister, Gruyere as it has a similar taste and texture. (I’m becoming quite the cheese aficionado these days!)

— Domaine Gueguen, 2020, Chablis —

The difference between the Petit Chablis and this Chablis from Domaine Gueguen, was noticeable from the moment we uncorked the wine. While the notes of apple were mild with the Petit Chablis as one might expect, the notes of green apple were immediately apparent even to this novice’s nose. Since the mild and soft cheeses are recommended for pairing with this particular wine (along with the Petit Chablis) we recreated the Vins de Chablis recipe for Gougères.

— Other suggested pairings —

Vegetable Quiche

Mild and Soft Cheeses

Fresh Oysters

Lobster

Grilled Fish

Gougères with Comte

(via Vins de Bourgogne)

Ingredients —

• 6 tbsp butter
• 1 1/4 cup milk
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 turn of the pepper grinder
• 150g (2/3 cup) of flour
• 4 eggs
• 150g (6oz) of Comte cheese
• 1 egg for the glaze
• 1 pinch of ground nutmeg

Directions —

1. Heat the oven to 370F.
2. In a saucepan, heat the milk, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and the finely chopped butter. Bring to a boil.
3. Off the heat, add the flour all in one go. Return to low heat and stir vigorously, dry the pastry until it no longer sticks to the saucepan.
4. Turn off the heat and allow it to cool.
5. Add the four eggs, one by one, mixing well after each egg. Add the grated Comte. Mix and put the choux pastry into a piping bag. Pipe the pastry into the shape desired on a baking tray covered with baking paper or simply greased. Prepare the glaze by brushing the top of the pastry with the beaten egg.
6. Place in the preheated oven at 370F for around 20 minutes.
7. Remove the gougères from the oven when they are golden and puffed up.

Note: If your gougères don’t rise, the two most common missteps are either now allowing the pastry to cool before adding the eggs, or too many eggs.

I had the opportunity to share about this Chablis Gougères recipe and thanks to my friends at Sopexa.