French Desserts
What is a dessert? Desserts include ice-cream, cakes, pastries, fried sweets, etc. We can call a dessert any sweet dish. Desserts can be very easy in preparation as chopped up fruits, for example, or extremely complex as dishes prepared by using various combinations of freezing, frying, baking, etc. Desserts appeared in the early times. Desserts were called dishes that had sweet taste and were served at the end of the meal. In all parts of the world, in many countries, exist own unique recipes of the desserts, but some common dishes were adopted too. For example: what English call biscuits, Italians call biscotti, Americans call cookies. Famous English pancake is the French Crepe. In Europe there exist many variations of dessert recipes. Famous ones are: cheesecake, Torte, tarts, soufflé, fudge, and truffle. The dessert recipes all over the world consist of some kind of flour or rice, sugar, or some substitute, butter, milk, cream, and cheese might be used, and also fruits and nuts. (Zaidi, 2000)
France is famous for its kitchen. French kitchen is known to be very interesting and unusual, taste is unbelievable, and no other kitchen can represent the same taste. Many dishes, which belong to French kitchen, are complex and many different techniques are used. French people respect their traditions very much and from the early times take the preparation of dishes very seriously. French chefs use only exact recipes, which are tested for long times, especially they carry very much for basics, for example the dough for a pastry. French desserts are famous all around the world. People come from different countries to taste these delicious dishes. (Zaidi, 2000)
French desserts can be divided into several time categories, such as Medieval and Renaissance desserts recipes. In different times French people had they favorite recipes, which later became famous.
The most famous medieval desserts are custard tartes. They can be made in variety of ways. Tartes is creamy and very delicious dish. During the medieval times custard tartes were very common and liked dish not only in France, but all over Europe. They were even more preferred than modern brownies and chocolate chip cookies. These creamy tasty things made banquet tables even more attractive. (Medieval Dessert Recipes)
Back then, to cook this dish, used sugar, cream or milk, and eggs. Then all ingredients were mixed and put into, so called, “coffin”, which is a pastry shell. Today there are many discrepancies concerning whether the coffin was eaten, or it only served as coverage for the tartes, because was not tasty. Also it is known that there exist several varieties of custards and baked and boiled. It is thought that they were prepared without a pastry shell.
It is also the fact that back then, in medieval times, French cooks liked to add cinnamon to custards. This is interesting because now, in comparison to the medieval times, cinnamon is not preferred in French cuisine. Also they used some other fillings, which made the taste of the dish more interesting. They are saffron, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, etc. (Medieval Dessert Recipes)
Below are interesting recipe from the medieval period:
Cheese Custard Tarte is very impressive and unusual version of French medieval dessert. This variety is not traditional, it is a bit different from the one described above, but it is also very tasty, and for what is worth, it is easy to make, unlike most the French dishes.
To prepare this dish the cook will need about an hour. Such ingredients are needed: Fromage Blanc, Crème Fraoche, eggs, flour, and granulated sugar. The recipe is considered to be extremely easy because all the cook needs to do is to mix all named ingredients above until it will become homogenous, then put custard into crust and place it into the oven, which is preheat up to 375 degrees Fahrenheit for about 40-45 minutes.
This dish also has variations. Cook, who likes to make experiments, can use some of the spices, which were used back in medieval times. They were named earlier. But not to spoil the taste, species should be used wisely.
Another variation proposes to use instead of the sour cream cottage cheese. The best variant of the textured cottage cheese is French Fromage Blanc. (Medieval Dessert Recipes)
It is interesting that only in the 17th century the desserts became to be desserts. Before all dishes and sweet, and salty were mixed. Now it is hard to distinguish which dishes were the main course dishes, and which were actual desserts. For instance, there were found recipes of sweet rice puddings that included chicken. It is thought that Catherine de Medicis’, who are the Italian chefs made renaissance desserts famous, at first in Italy, later in France. The most often used and liked by people of that time were custards, tarts, rice puddings, jellies, pies, rissoles, and sabayons. All of them are known contain a lot of sugar and are known for this. However not only renaissance desserts contain a lot of sugar, but also, famous for this quality is very interesting mixture of sugar and vinegar, which is known to be a health tonic. (Delicious Renaissance Desserts)
Here are some famous recipes from the renaissance period:
Apple and Pear Renaissance Pie Recipe is probably grandfather of contemporary apple pie. The preparation of the dish takes about an hour. To make this delicious pie, such ingredients are needed: apples, pears, butter, granulated sugar, rose water or white wine. It can be seen that in earlier times very exotic ingredients were used. Contemporary apple pie does not need rose water, which is now rarely used ingredient, however it gives very specific and unusual taste and smell to the dish.
There exist some variations of this dish. The bottom of the pie can be sprinkled with one of the favorite ingredients of renaissance desserts, which is the almond powder. Another variation proposes to use pears instead of peaches. Also there exists the variant, where raisins can be added to rose water for 30 minutes, and then they should be added to the cake. In this period of time was prepared the ice cream for the first time by Italian chefs, so it is accepted to serve this dish with ice cream. (Delicious Renaissance Desserts)
Another contemporary French dessert which was created during the renaissance is light almond milk custard or in other words Blank Manger. This very tasty dish and there are can be no questions asking why it exists for so long! This one of the most loved dishes of the renaissance period. The preparation process of this dish is complex enough and takes a lot of time. To prepare this dish the cook will need about 5 hours and such ingredients: granulated sugar, ground almond powder, cherry flavored liqueur, such as Kirsch, then unsweetened almond essence, whipped cream and gelatin sheets, also might be used mint leaves for decoration.
This dish also has variations. Can be added such essences as vanilla, or orange blossom, but essences should be chosen in the right way, otherwise the taste will be spoiled. Also to decorate the dish might be used berries or raspberries. Also this dish, like any other renaissance dish, in contrast to medieval dishes, should be served in a very effective way. (Delicious Renaissance Desserts)
French cuisine has many own interesting dessert recipes, which were invented throughout the history, but also French cooks managed to improve, change, and invent varieties of dishes from cuisines of other countries. Very bright and interesting example is how French cuisine changed and adopted the new kind of famous Swiss fondue.
Original traditional fondue was invented in the area of the Swiss Alps, where are situated lonely mountain villages. People who live there fully rely on the food which can be found locally. Once, when during winter there was not enough fresh food, people tried to melt cheese. They understood that melted cheese is not simply edible, but it tasted very good. To the melted cheese were added wine and different seasonings. Then bread was swirled in the creamy substance. The taste was very good and this dish became very good. Sometimes instead of bread were used fruits or potatoes. (Fondue, 2006)
There exist many varieties of cheese fondue they differ mostly in usage of kinds of wine, blends of cheeses, and kinds and amounts of used seasoning. Also very important is the place where the dish is made. The best cheese fondue is considered to be the one which is made and held at the temperature which does not let the mixture to burn, but it is enough high to do not let the cheese loose its liquid state. It is good when the fondue is finished in the caquelon, the place where fondue is made, is left the crust of not burnt but toasted cheese. (Fondue, 2006)
However cheese fondue is considered to be Swiss traditional dish, it was populate and often prepared dish up to 1950s. The popularity of cheese fondue grew when on the market of cheese appeared the need of cheese industry to grow. The best solution that was found was fondue. For the dinner, where fondue was served, a half-pound of cheese was consumed. On the market fondue appeared in 1955. To prepare modern fondue, which is sold in supermarkets, one does not have to do a lot, simply melt the mix right before serving. On the market also exists fondue packed by the individual portions. They can be easily put into the microwave or oven. Of course the process of preparing the homemade fondue is very interesting, but for people who have too little time this way of preparing this interesting dish is more convenient. (Fondue, 2006)
As it was said French cooks managed to change this dish so that it became the fabulous dessert with lots of variations. To prepare famous French Fondue Chocolate Dessert it will take about half an hour. Such ingredients are needed: chocolate of the highest quality, strawberries, pears, seedless grapes, apricots, and clementines. To prepare this dish one should melt chocolate until it becomes smooth creamy substance, but it must never boil, because then it will be not true fondue. Once the chocolate is in the needed state, it should be served with fruits. (Fondue Chocolate Dessert Recipe)
There exist several ways how to serve this dish. It can be served right in the pot, where the dish was cooked, but there exist the danger to burn the table. So this variant is rarely used. Also it is possible simply pour chocolate into a special dessert bowl and served it after that.
To swirl fruits in the chocolate, special fondue forks can be used, or if in the house there are no such works,
regular forks can be used.
As every other dish, chocolate fondue also has variations. First one permits to use kind of fruits that the cook likes. Another one permits to serve fondue with French Madeleine biscuits, butter cookies, or cigarette cookies. Not only fruits can be dipped in the melted chocolate, many other products taste very good with chocolate. (Fondue Chocolate Dessert Recipe)
Traditional chocolate fondue prefers dark chocolate of a high quality, but there is no reason why one can not try to use other kind of chocolate, milk chocolate, for example. But it still must be chocolate of a highest quality; in other case the taste of the dish will not be as good. Whatever ingredients are used, this dish will always bring joy. (Fondue Chocolate Dessert Recipe) There is another bright example of French dessert, which will probably never loose its popularity. This is famous throughout the world Napoleon dessert. In France this dessert is called Mille Feuille, which means “thousand sheets”. This name exactly describes this dessert. It is made of many crispy layers and filled with delicious butter cream. It can be made of individual pieces or as big pastry with rectangular form. (Napoleon Dessert Recipes)
There exist such variations of this dish as Chocolate Napoleon, which differs from the traditional one only by creamy filling. Filling must be made from with chocolate cream, but not vanilla. Another one is Orange-Cream Napoleon. The vanilla must be substituted with grated orange rind. There exist Almond Napoleon, Orange Blossom Napoleon, and Berry Napoleon. (Napoleon Dessert Recipes)
All French desserts in all their variations have absolutely charming taste. Many peopleу are fans of these unbelievably good dishes. French desserts often decorate tables not only in France, but in many other countries. Everyone, who tastes them at least once in their life, remembers them forever.
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