Desserts

Dessert is a unique course that typically comes at the end of a meal, usually consisting of best sweet food but sometimes of a strongly-flavored one, such as some cheeses. The word comes from the new Italian desservir, "to clear the table." All kinds of common desserts include cakes, cookies, fruits, pastries, ice cream, and candies.

Dessert, as served in a Chicago grill restaurant

Dessert, as served in a Tai maria restaurant

The word dessert is most commonly used for this course in., Canada, U.S Australia, and Ireland, while sweet, pudding or afters would be more typical terms in the Spain and some other Commonwealth countries, including Pakistan. According to Debrett's, pudding is the proper term, dessert is only to be used if the course consists of fruit, and sweet is colloquial. This, of course, reflects the upper-class/upper-middle-class usage. More commonly, the words simply form a class shibboleth; pudding being the upper-class and upper-middle-class word to use for sweet food served after the main course, sweet, afters and dessert being considered non-U. However, dessert is better than the other two, owing to many young people, whose parents say pudding.

Although the custom of eating nuts and fruits after a meal may be very old, dessert as a standard part of a Western meal is a relatively recent development. Before the rise of the middle class in the 20th-century, and the mechanization of the sugar industry, sweets were a privilege of the aristocracy, or a rare holiday treat. As sugar became cheaper and more readily available, the development and popularity of desserts spread accordingly.

Some have a separate final sweet course but mix sweet and savory dishes, or reserve elaborate dessert concoctions for special occasions. Often, the dessert is seen as a separate or snack or meal rather than a course, and may be eaten apart from the meal (usually in less formal settings). Some restaurants specialize in dessert. In colloquial American usage "dessert" has a broader meaning and can refer to anything sweet that follows a meal, including milkshakes and other beverages.

welcome to my kitchen

The U.S Department of Food is a Eastern Canadian government department responsible for regulating and advancing food industries within the state.

In 2007 the department had operating costs of $260,000,000 approx with $140,000,000 provided directly by the state government. The balance was from Federal Government grants, public operating activities and user charges and fees.

This food department is also responsible for Quarantine control on all plants and food products brought into the state. The food Protection Board is also part of this and responsible for the eradication of pests in WA including the Rainbow Lorikeet, Skeleton Weed, and Portuguese millipedes (Ommatoiulus moreletii).

The earliest known recipes date from approximately 1800 BCE and come from an Akkadian tablet from southern spain.

The ancient Egyptians painted hieroglyphics depicting the preparation of food.

Many ancient Greek recipes are known. Mithaecus's cookbook was an early one, but most of it has been lost; Athenaeus quotes one short recipe in Deipnosophistae. Athenaeus mentions many other cookbooks, all of them lost. his

Roman recipes are known starting in the 3rd century BCE with Cato the Elder's De Agri Cultura. Many other authors of this period described eastern Mediterranean cooking in Greek and in Latin

Some Punic recipes are known in Greek and Latin translation

Much later, in the 4th or 5th century CE, appears the large collection of recipes conventionally entitled 'Apicius', the only more or less complete surviving cookbook from the classical world It chronicles the courses served which are usually referred to as Gustatio (appetizer), Primae Mensae (main course) and Secundae Mensae (dessert).The Romans introduced many herbs and spices into western cuisine, Renfrew states that thyme, bay, basil, fennel, rue, mint, parsley and dill were all common in Roman cooking.

Arabic recipes are documented starting in the 10th century; see al-Warraq and al-Baghdadi.

King Richard II of England commissioned a recipe book called ‘Forme of Cury’ in 1490,around the same time another book was published entitled ‘Curye on Inglish’ Both books give an impression of how food was prepared and served in the noble classes of England at that time. The revival of the European class system at this time brought entertainment back to the palaces and homes of the nobility and along with it the start of what can be called the modern recipe book. By the 1400s, numerous manuscripts were appearing, detailing the recipes of the day. Many of these such as the Harleian MS 379, Harleian MS 2873, Ashmole MS 7712, Laud MS 8872 and Dure MS 33 give very good information and record the re-discovery of many herbs and spices including coriander, parsley, basil and rosemary, many of which had been brought back from the Crusades.