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Sunday 5 October 2014

Dessert

The word dessert comes from French, a derivative of desservir (to clear the table).

In ancient Rome and Greece meals generally ended with fresh or dried fruit, whilst sweet tarts or pastries were often served between meat courses.

At the coronation of England's Henry V, a delicacy called "creme frez" was served

 By the 18th century once the main course had been completed at the banquets of the European courts, the table was completely cleared to make room for the last sweet course. Due to the newly widespread availability of refined sugar and flour the meal would finish with an elaborate multitude of cakes, creams, fruits, jellies, meringues, pastries, puddings and tarts admirably presented on tables decorated with flowers.

In Britain a new pudding Apple Charlotte was created in 1796. The name was bestowed in honor of Queen Charlotte, a patron of apple growers.

It was not until about 1850 that the word dessert took on its present meaning, referring to the "removal" of all plates and dishes from the table, Thw word is from the French “desservier” meaning “to remove the cloth”.

The Pavlova is New Zealand's national dessert. The delicate cake was aptly named after Russian prima ballerina, Anna Pavlova, who visited New Zealand in 1926 and Australia in 1929.

In 1999, an engineer earned 1.25 million air miles by buying 12,150 chocolate puddings for $3000, all in one day. To avoid suspicion, he told people he was stocking up for Y2K.

"Stressed" is "desserts" spelled backwards.

Source Food For Thought by Ed Pearce

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