These aren’t your typical, light-as-air cheese puffs passed around at fancy parties. These are a Southerner’s version of gougères, a little bit heavier, as they’re stuffed with bacon and cooked with rendered fat, but just as delicious. Try ’em out for yourself with the recipe below.
Donald Link‘s gougères in his new cookbook, Down South, are a far cry from the delicate hors d’oeuvre seen on passed appetizer trays at fancy receptions. Studded with pieces of crumbled bacon and infused with their rendered fat, these bite-sized puffs make for a seriously porky statement. Link enhances the bacon with a couple of generous handfuls of grated Parmesan—a step that adds another layer of umami and a touch of creaminess to the gougères.
Photo by Chris Granger
Rebecca Haley-Park
Rebecca Haley-Park is culture's former editor and resident stinky cheese cheerleader. A native New Englander, she holds a BFA in creative writing from University of Maine at Farmington.
