SC - Cooks 2752

[Martina Grasse]

Im afraid I very much have to disagree with you..
At least in late period Germany (according to Rumpolt, 1581) there were 
multiple courses and the final course was almost always sweets, fruits, 
etc... (as could modernly be though of as dessert)

I quote from the feast im currenlty researching and re-creating based on four 
banquets for the kings of Hungary and Bohemia:
"The last course to the fruits/ after the opportunity presents itself/
                       be it in winter or in summer/ should be (prepared) 
with comfits/ with marzipan/
                       with baked things/ with quince juice/ and of all sorts 
of preserved
                       fruits/ prepared. So (like it ) the kings of Hungary 
and Bohemia/ etc."
He has a more extensive and specific list in his banquets for Emperors, 
again  the final course is full of fruits, sugars, marzipans, gingerbreads, 
pretzels of almonds... 

I'll link the splash page, feel free to jump in and research around.

http://clem.mscd.edu/~grasse/Welcome.html

Gwen Catrin von Berlin
now getting off her sugar box

Huette wrote:...

>From what I have
>researched, the concept of a dessert is not really
>period.  While they did have sweet dishes, they were
>always part of the regular course and not segregated. 
>The closest to a "dessert" that I can think of is the
>spectacle dish or the subletie, but these usually were
>served between the courses.