Entremet

In the Late Middle Ages and the early modern period, an entremet marked the end of a course of the meal and could be a culinary preparation like frumenty (a type of wheat porridge) that was brightly colored and flavored with exotic and expensive spices, or elaborate models of castles complete with wine fountains, musicians, and food modeled into allegorical scenes.

By the end of the Middle Ages, entremets had also evolved into dinner entertainment in the form of inedible ornaments or acted performances, often full of the symbolism of power and regality.

[a][6] In Du fait de cuisine, entremets are served at dinner at the end of each stage of the meal (or mets, a course of several dishes laid on the table together).

[7] Over time, entremets became popular as illusion foods, such as peacocks or swans that were skinned, cooked, and redressed in their original plumage; or scenes depicting human activities, such as a knight in the form of a grilled capon equipped with a paper helmet and lance, sitting on the back of a roast piglet.

At a feast in 1343 dedicated to Pope Clement VI, one of the entremets was a castle with walls made from roast birds, populated with cooked and redressed deer, wild boar, goat, hare, and rabbit.

[9] In the 14th century, entremets began to involve not just eye-catching displays of high-status cuisine, but also more prominent and often highly symbolic forms of inedible entertainment.

Actors portraying the crusader Godfrey of Bouillon and his knights then sailed into the hall on a miniature ship and reenacted the capture of Jerusalem in 1099.

The theme of the banquet was the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, and included a vow by Philip and his guests to retake the city in a crusade, though this was never realized.

At the end of the banquet, an actor representing the Holy Church rode in on an elephant and read a poem about the plight of Eastern Christianity under Ottoman rule.

[12] The "four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie", in the nursery rhyme "Sing a Song of Sixpence", has its genesis in an entremet presented to amuse banquet guests in the 14th century.

[15] At the end of the Middle Ages, the level of refinement among the noble and royal courts of Europe had increased considerably, and the demands of powerful hosts and their rich dinner guests resulted in ever more complicated and elaborate creations.

Chiquart, cook to Amadeus VIII, Duke of Savoy, described an entremet entitled Castle of Love in his 15th-century culinary treatise Du fait de cuisine ("On cookery").

[17] In the 17th century, the Duke of Buckingham presented a memorable banquet in honor of his royal guests, Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria, which included a pie prepared to conceal a human being—the famous dwarf of the era, Jeffrey Hudson.

Other common entremets included chilled fish aspics, pies, and pâtés; eel cervelat; and anchovy paste spread on toast.

[34][35] The dessert typically comprises a sponge cake base, mousse filling and layers of inserted set elements such as creams, jellies and compotes.