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In cultures around the world, dessert or pudding is a course that typically comes at the end of a meal, usually consisting of sweet food. The word comes from the French language as dessert and this from Old French desservir, "to clear the table" and "to serve." The etymology is linked to the medieval practice of a two part meal. During the first, nobles (at a high) and servants (separate) would eat together in the same room. During the second - dessert, the noble family would retreat in separate private quarters for an intimate part of the meal without servants. The food consumed during dessert included but was not limited to sweets.

Common Western desserts include cakes, biscuits, gelatin dessert, pastries, ice cream, pies, pudding, and candies. Fruit may also be eaten with or as a dessert. Variations of desserts can be found all around the world, such as in Russia, where breakfast foods such as bliny, oladi, and syrniki served with honey and jam are also popular as desserts. Desserts are sometimes eaten with a dessert spoon, intermediate in size between a teaspoon and a tablespoon, or a "fruit spoon".

History[link]

The first desserts were crusty, made from raw honeycomb and dried dates. It was not until the Middle Ages, when sugar was manufactured, that people began to enjoy more sweet desserts, but even then sugar was so expensive that it was only for the wealthy on special occasions. Early origins of popular frozen desserts, such as ice cream, trace back to the Middle Ages when royalty would request fresh ice flavored with honey or a fruit syrup.^[1]

Usage[link]

A petit Gâteau

The word dessert is most commonly used for this course in U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland,^{[citation needed]} while sweet, pudding, or (informal) afters are alternative terms that may also be used in the UK and some other Commonwealth countries, including India.^{[citation needed]}

Nutrition[link]

Dessert, as served in a Swiss mountain restaurant

Those attempting to lose weight as part of a dieting program may choose to restrict their intake of dessert foods, as they tend to have a large amount of starch and sugar.

References[link]

• Mesnier, Roland (2004). Dessert University. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-2317-9. http://books.google.com/books?id=9LhpFv7VkS8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=dessert&hl=en&sa=X&ei=2Pj3Trv5IM_QiAKprpDKDg&ved=0CEoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=dessert&f=false. 
• Dodge, Abigail J.; et al. (2002). Dessert. Simon & Schuster Source. ISBN 0-7432-2643-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=8vnMYnK0nXwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=dessert&hl=en&sa=X&ei=2Pj3Trv5IM_QiAKprpDKDg&ved=0CFEQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=dessert&f=false. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Desserts

Look up dessert in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Dessert

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