Every April 3rd National Chocolate Mousse Day recognizes the decadent dessert that gained popularity in France in the 1800s.
In French, the word Mousse means ‘foam’, and this is an apt description of this dessert, being light and frothy, or creamy and thick, it all depends on how you prepare this scrumptious treat. Though the origins of this delicacy are largely unknown, it is known that it was a popular dish in the 18th century in France. However the first written record of its appearance is actually from an exposition in New York City in 1892.
In the United States, an advertisement in The Brooklyn Daily Eagle in 1887 included classes on how to make chocolate mousse offered by a Miss Parloa. She also advised how to make potato soup, larded grouse, potato timbale and corn muffins.
From dark chocolate to milk chocolate, bittersweet or any combination, there is plenty of variety when it comes to chocolate mousse.
- Cold dessert mousses are often poured into decorative glasses and garnished with fruit, sweet sauces, or whipped cream.
- Savory mousses can be made from fish, shellfish, meat, foie gras, etc.
- There are three key constituents to a mousse: base, binder, and aerator.
- They may be hot or cold and are often squeezed through a piping bag onto some kind of platform to be used as hors d’oeuvres.
- Chocolate mousse came into the public eye in the U.S. in the 1930s, about the time as chocolate pudding mixes were introduced.
- When mousse first hit the culinary scene in 1894 it was reserved for savory dishes like fish and vegetables. In the early 1900’s, the famous French artist Toulouse Lautrec had the brilliant idea of mixing in chocolate to the graceful and airy invention. Thankfully the name that he first gave it, ‘mayonnaise de chocolat’, has been changed.
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