"I Love Fruit & Veg From Europe" proposes a fresh fruit gourmet dessert fit for a queen.
TORONTO, Feb. 12, 2025 /CNW/ -- The "charlotte" is a regal dessert, both fresh and delicious, consisting of a creamy filling, encased in delicate biscuits, covered with fresh fruit. It is prepared with seasonal produce, and this strawberry-laden version is proposed by the "I Love Fruit & Veg From Europe" programme for Valentine's Day. This international project aims to promote the conscious purchase and consumption of quality European fruit and vegetables, including their organic and PDO/PGI versions, for a healthier, safer and more sustainable diet. The project is supported by the Italian producer organizations Agritalia, A.O.A., La Deliziosa, Meridia, Terra Orti and co-funded by the European Commission.
The history of the "charlotte". It is thought to have been created in honour of Queen Charlotte Sophia of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, wife of King George III of England and mother of 15 children. She was a well-loved and respected sovereign, a benefactor and patron of the arts and botany, and a symbol of style and elegance. The dessert first appeared as a sort of pudding, described in a poem from 1796 called "The Hasty Pudding" by J. Barlow. This is an amusing celebration of the culinary delights of New England, published when Queen Charlotte was still alive, in which it is described with these words: "The Charlotte brown, within whose crusty sides/A belly soft the pulpy apple hides". We have to wait until 1800 to find a more modern charlotte, this time re-imagined by the famous French chef Marie-Antoine Carême, who reinvents the recipe as a cold dessert using sponge finger biscuits and Bavarian vanilla cream. This is how the "charlotte à la Parisienne" was created.
Carême subsequently passed into the service of Tsar Alexander I of Russia, and changed the dessert again, renaming it "charlotte à la russe". The famous pastrycook is considered one of the most important chefs in history; he was the great codifier of French cuisine and father of the very concept of haute cuisine.
Happy Valentine's Day. Enjoy. It's from Europe!
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SOURCE I Love Fruit & Veg from Europe
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