The word “dessert”, by the way, is also of French origin – it means a dish that is served when the table is “deserve”, literally translated – “cleaned up”. They remove everything that was on the table – salt shaker, pepper shaker, plates, cutlery, bread, bread crumbs, and bring dishes and utensils for dessert. In the Middle Ages, before they were brought, even the tablecloth was changed. Desserts https://greenelly.com/ are a meal change that stands apart from the main meal process and may be optional. In earlier traditions, dessert also included cheeses!
The history of sweet dishes is fascinating. Once upon a time there were very few of them – before the Napoleonic era, sugar in France was a scarce and expensive commodity, honey-based sweets were not common, and chocolate appeared only in the 17th century. As a result, a situation arose that the cooks, who were already skilled in preparing meat, fish and vegetables, could not cope with desserts at the same level. And they began to be trusted only to specialists awarded a special title – this is how the caste of French confectioners began to take shape.
In most homes, the housewife cooked herself and did everything in her power to prepare dessert if she had a stove and enough ingredients at her disposal. She could cook pancakes, creams, porridge and “lost bread”. In especially important cases, it was customary to turn to a pastry chef or baker – they baked cakes and pies, into which they usually put as much salt as sugar. They mainly used fresh fruits, dried fruits and almond paste.
Under the influence of Catherine and Marie de’ Medici, jelly baked goods, spiced rolls, marzipan (almond dough balls) and nougat appeared. Increasingly, products imported from the New World were used – chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon…