Dessert It is a French word, also commonly used in Italy, which means “Deprès service desserted”that is to say “Service after disappearing” And it indicates the dessert at the end of the meal. The concept of sweet dessert was born officially in the Middle Ageswhen the Several courses in banquetssymbol of power, and at the end of it that a sweet food together with wine with honey. Already in antiquity – Egyptians, Arabs, in ancient Greece and ancient Rome – Sweet foods were ate at the end of the meal, but they were not considered a real scope, with dedicated service and settings, as it happens later.
But it is only in the Renaissance, with the diffusion of sugar in Europethat we start talking about real pastry, and dessert Therefore more and more elaborate and refined are made.
The dessert at the end of the meal in ancient Greece and ancient Rome
In the’Ancient Greece It was already used to Eating sweets at the end of the meal: the sweet taste was already identified as “exceptional”, and it was a way to conclude a rich banquet in beauty. But not only that: the desserts were already associated with Moments of celebration oa particular periods of the yearprobably also based on the availability of raw materials at the level seasonal.
Among the desserts of this period, there have been evidence and recipes, albeit indicative, of some preparations, especially thanks to the text The deipnosophists – the ducts with banquetwork of University of Naucrati, to date one of the main sources to draw information on the ancient cuisine of that period.
Among the desserts consumed in ancient Greece we find for example the Gastrispreparation for dark and clear layers, made of Seeds ground with pepper, honey and dried fruit. Also i Romans they were used to eating sweets: many of their eating habits came to us thanks to Satyricontext attributed to Petronio, and to De Agri Culture of Catone. Just in the latter work we find the recipe for a dessert called Placentacake al sheep and honey cheeseconsidering the perfect conclusion of a “Convivium”a banquet.
From the sources available it is noted that the desserts consumed by the Greeks and subsequently also by the Romans are “Inspired” to the Arab and Middleiental cuisineAnd of that same period and previous, testimony of the fact that the sweet taste, and the habit of consuming sweet preparations was already rooted. In fact, we know that even the Ancient Egyptians They used to consume sweets, considering the foods that allowed them to prepare them real gifts of the gods.
The dessert at the end of the banquet in the Middle Ages, a symbol of power and wealth
If the habit of consuming sweet dishes at the end of the meal was already rooted, the “dessert” as we imagine it today, or one real final scopewith dedicated veneers, the result of research and where precious foods were also employed, it actually dates back to the Middle Ages. As we can also deepen in a series of content spread by National Library of France On daily life and gastronomy in the Middle Ages, it is here that the so -called develops “Art of the table”: in rich contexts, the banquets provide for the staying at the same table, with pre -established positions, and the moment of the meal is functional to the celebration of the power of those who host the party itself.
In this context, the furnishing of the room with tapestries, tablecloths, fabrics and refined dishes is a symbol of that same power, as well as the way in which the dishes are served: they are usually expected four coursesbased on game meat and birds, interspersed with moments of entertainment of music and shows. At the end of the courses, he disappeared, and it’s time for the “Deprès service desserted”or the “Service after disappearing”: The dessertprecisely. The medieval dessert was based on Hypocrassweet honey wine, accompanied with hot pods, the ubliés.
As reported by the most famous “recipe book” of the Middle Ages, the Book de Arte Coquinaria by Martino de ‘Rossi, in the medieval centuries, the sweet preparations were however quite varied and, not too differently from antiquity, cooked on cereals, honey, eggs, cheeses and milk. Among these, for example, the White cakea kind of ricotta cake, preparation with pasta made with flour, butter and water filled with sheep cheese and egg whites.
The dessert in the Renaissance: the birth of the pastry
Between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, with the crusades, the sugar arrives in Europe and, with it, there is one Revolution in the kitchen. Around the year 900 AD, in fact, it brown sugar It arrives in our territories from Arabia, imported as Spezia, and subsequently, with the discovery of America, that of beettogether with cocoa. If first the sweet taste was given by the natural sweetness of the productnow the foods can be sugary: therefore the concept of “pastry shop”which also completely revolutionizes the vision of the dessert.
The wedding banquet of Hercules II d’Este with Renata of Francewhich took place in 1528 in Ferrara: at the end of the 99 courses, they enter the Vere room and own sugar sculptures who represent the labors of Hercules. In this same period it is also discovered how Store cold sweet foods In a mixture of ice and salt: this allows you to also use raw eggs to create creams, and give life to sweets that, in short, evolve in the modern ice-cream.
With themodern agethe “dessert” becomes more and more refined, therefore, and sweet preparations become a real art, up to 1780, the year of the creation of what is considered the older pastry shop in Italythe Romanengo confectionery in Genoa.
