Desserts And The End Of The Meal

THE word dessert comes from the French desservir, to remove what has been served, and originally meant things to eat while the table was being cleared away after the meal. William Vaughan, in The Golden Grove, labelled as "barbarous" this "foreign" custom of eating extra dainties - fruits, nuts, and "sweetmeats", but apparently it was even then, in 1600, becoming firmly established in this country. By the early 1800s Americans were eating fruit pies at the end of dinner, and this, too, excited wonderment and scorn in England where, at that time, the festive meal ended with a heavy suet pudding.

As late as 1929, Bunyard's successful book The Anatomy of Dessert admitted only fruits and nuts into the dessert category and wrote well and knowingly about their virtues. But how far have we come now ! Yet it is not impossible that Bunyard's is the more physiological answer to the end of a meal than the ultra-rich, calorie-laden concoctions that too often seem to be the only prideful culinary accomplishment in many households.

Fruits And Nuts

Without calling on ancient authority for gospel, we have come, from long trial and experiment, to agree that both the dieter and the gourmet cannot do better than to close a good meal with a bowl of fruit. Nothing beats the finest of really fresh fruits, but a compote or stewed fruits are pleasant alternatives.

Most fruits can stand a good deal of storage in the cold before they are obviously spoiled, but they lose flavour along the way. Moreover, the texture of tree-ripened fruit is usually superior to that of the fruits picked green and ripened in storage. Everyone knows these facts, but until the public demands, and is willing to pay for, really fresh fruit we shall go on being disappointed with what merely look like good fruits. Many British visiting the United States exclaim that there is something wrong with the American climate or soil because the fruit there is so often inferior in flavour to what they get at home. The answer is, we are sure, that the Americans can grow fruit as well as anywhere else, but their clever ways of prolonging their market life do the damage.

Fortunately, citrus fruits, many varieties of apples, and some pears are not so sensitive to storage. The British market is well served by a plentiful supply of fruit from the Commonwealth and most of the other exporting countries of the world. Home-grown fruit is also plentiful in season - and that is the time to eat it. The old adage is "an apple a day keeps the doctor away" - but there is no reason why you should have only 365 apples a year. Oranges do not do well with more than a few weeks of storage, but the supplies of these too come in from Spain, from Israel and from America and there are few times of the year when they are not to be had.

We have discussed fruit compotes in the chapter on fruits, but we should mention also baked fresh fruits. Have you tried baked pears, grapefruit, peaches? Fresh cherries and plums are also good baked. Prolonged baking is unnecessary for any of these ripe fruits - just enough to heat through is usually about right, and they should go straight from the oven to the table. Various flavourings, chosen according to the fruit, can be added; these include brown sugar, honey, nutmeg, cinnamon, rum, and sherry. In general there should be enough liquid, including that from the fruit itself, to make a thin syrup.

There is no problem of fat with any ordinary fruits. Nuts, on the other hand, are very fatty, so they add up to many calories if you eat them by the handful. Moderation is promoted by having to do your own shelling, and anyway the flavour is better straight from the shell. Fortunately, the fat in most nuts is relatively unsaturated and will not tend to push up the blood cholesterol level. Almonds, Brazils, filberts, and walnuts are all in this class. Peanuts are a trifle less desirable. Coconuts contain a highly saturated fat so you are not advised to start using coconut oil, but you need have no restriction about ordinary amounts of coconut as a garnish or component of other items.

Nuts in the shell and dried fruits make fine combinations for the end of the meal and after. With these and a glass of good Port or Madeira the stage is set for philosophical or witty discourse and a mellow mood that ought to be good for the heart and, if not, will do it no harm. The very best atmosphere for such relaxation is an open fire on a winter night.

Puddings

Pudding embraces almost as much variety as does "soup". Hot steamed puddings are solid fare for the non-dieter, and they need not be overly heavy in saturated fats, though the old recipes insist on suet and butter to a degree we cannot allow if the blood cholesterol is important. About half as much oil can be used to replace suet with good results. Texture is improved by using plenty of chopped nuts as well as dried and glace fruits in them. Instead of jam, syrup or custard on steamed puddings, try a fruit sauce.

Fruit puddings of the Scandinavian type, made of fruit juices with a little cornflour, are enjoyed by most people and they pose no fat problem. Jellies and similar puddings made with gelatin, with or without cut-up fruit in them, are in the same class.

Milk puddings and custards are apt to raise the fat question but they are allowable occasionally, so long as they are not made with cream and are served in moderate or small portions. Bread puddings are even more acceptable, with the same restriction about cream. Use recipes that call for much milk which is slowly cooked down to small bulk for fine flavour.

The whole family of pies and tarts make an excellent second course to the meal. Apple tart, cherry, plum, blackcurrant and gooseberry - each is appropriate in season. But make the crust with oil instead of butter, margarine or cooking fat. The recipe is given in the recipe section.