London catering firm Food Show has attempted to answer a sticky question – what is the correct name for that most sweet of courses? Should it be pudding (as it is in our household), afters or dessert?
Food Show quizzed 1,000 of their clients and found that the answer is undeniably dessert – that is, among the corporate elite of the capital at least. Dessert gobbled up 60.2% of the vote, followed by a helping of 36.7% for pudding and a meagre 3.1% for afters.
Dessert, in case you’re wondering, comes from the French word desservir meaning ‘to clear the table’ whereas pudding also owes its gastronomic origin to our continental cousins, coming from the Old French name for black pudding, boudin.
“After dinner there’s always a general debate on what we all call the treat to follow,” says Andrew Gosling, MD of Food Show, “and having heard in the past the large number of variations people use we were curious to see what really comes up top. Who best to ask than our clients whose passion for food is palpable to say the least.”
Gosling intends to clear up further foodie conundrums over the next few weeks as Food Show asks where the evening meal should be referred to as dinner, supper or tea.
But in the meantime, I’m intrigued to know whether the sweet-toothed readers of this blog agree with Food Show’s patrons. Is is pudding, dessert or afters in your home?
Surely correct terminology in English dining is dictated by the diners in society not the caterers, royalty and high society call it pudding