Dessert then cheese....

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Mad Cook

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....or cheese then dessert?

It used to be the tradition in certain social circles to serve a savoury such as devils (or angels )on horseback, Welsh rarebit or Scotch woodcock after dessert at a dinner party until WWII rationing largely put a stop to the practice. After the war it staggered on for a bit in old-fashioned gentlemen's clubs of the sort patronised by Bertie Wooster and Lord Peter Wimsey but in restaurants and at home it had largely disappeared, to be replaced by the cheese board with a selection of cheeses, savoury biscuits (cookies?) and a few decorative grapes.

Now the question is - cheese then dessert or dessert then cheese? Which way round do you do it (if you do).

Dessert followed by cheese is the English way and cheese followed by dessert is the French way. Personally I prefer cheese first as it gives you chance to finish the wine that went with the main course but I tend to sit on the fence when I have guests and put both on the table at the same time so people can choose which they have first.
 
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If I had a choice of after dinner sweets or a tray of nice cheeses, I'd go for the cheese and probably skip the dessert altogether.


I do like my ice cream at home, but if I were at a dinner party and both were being offered, that's what I'd do. :)
 
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Cheese is served during the Salad Course. Dessert follows the Salad Course but precedes the Fruit Course.
 
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....or cheese then dessert?

It used to be the tradition in certain social circles to serve a savoury such as devils (or angels )on horseback, Welsh rarebit or Scotch woodcock after dessert at a dinner party until WWII rationing largely put a stop to the practice. After the war it staggered on for a bit in old-fashioned gentlemen's clubs of the sort patronised by Bertie Wooster and Lord Peter Wimsey but in restaurants and at home it had largely disappeared, to be replaced by the cheese board with a selection of cheeses, savoury biscuits (cookies?) and a few decorative grapes.

Now the question is - cheese then dessert or dessert then cheese? Which way round do you do it (if you do).

Dessert followed by cheese is the English way and cheese followed by dessert is the French way. Personally I prefer cheese first as it gives you chance to finish the wine that went with the main course but I tend to sit on the fence when I have guests and put both on the table at the same time so people can choose which they have first.

Neither. Rarely have dessert, and if we have cheese with dinner (also rare) it's part of the appetizer round. For us, cheese is more of a snack, when it's too long since lunch, but not yet time for dinner. That's when I'll run to the fridge and slice off a bit of cheese to tide me over.

What can I say? We're informal as heck out here in the wild west.
 
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Since we laid the butler off, we haven't had any dessert. We do have cheese, but now we have to cut it ourselves.
 
Cheese is served during the Salad Course. Dessert follows the Salad Course but precedes the Fruit Course.
You've been watching Downton ;)


I only meant this as a fun question!


My mother's paternal grandparents had been "in service" and her grandmother on the other side had "married beneath her" so mum knew her way around a posh dinner. She advised me what to do if I came across something on my plate that I didn't recognise - "Watch what everyone else does with it." That advice has stood me in good stead all my life especially when faced with something unmentionable which I never found out the name of in Africa!


My question was really based on preference not so much on etiquette. I have greedy (in a nice way) friends who generally eat both cheese and dessert but if guests prefer one of the other it's nice for them if both are on the table and they don't have to wait .
 
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The closest I've ever come to this dilemma is nestling a small wedge of sharp cheddar next to a piece of apple or mincemeat pie. :yum:
 
Selkie's post reads like 1 of the "how-to's" in a cookbook my mom got when she was newly married that I still have. It gives tips on how to treat and instruct the "help," how to construct a root cellar, a smoking/curing chamber and multiple other things a young well-to-do lady in the 1950s should know, including, which cheeses to pick and how to have it served.
 
Sorry, this information is for those who live on Beacon Hill in Boston.


In my part of Boston, cheese is for the appetizer course. You put it out while the guys are watching the football game of the year. Foo Foo foods just don't cover it here is these here parts. Grapes? Those are for the guys to toss at someone's mouth to see if they can catch them. One misses, just leave it for the maid to clean up after. Mainly just munchies will do in these here parts. And after a big meal, dessert has to wait. The guys just want to sit back, undo their buckles and finish watching the game. After they will come back out to the kitchen and ask, "What's to eat?"

I have a large silver spoon that belonged to my grandmother Adams. My mother grew up using the right spoon, had an Irish girl in the home as a servant. She also served the meals. Then when my grandmother died, all that came to an end. My grandfather lived for one more year. The farm was sold and the monies went to take care of my mother's medical costs. She had contracted polio. But she taught me a lot of what she learned from her childhood. So if and when the occasion should arise, I can hold my own with the best of them. Whether it be Beacon Hill folks or my own kind. :angel:
 
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I thought it was a French tradition to serve cheese and wine last. But what do I know, growing up in Soviet Union we did not always had food to eat, forget about dessert or cheese. ?


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Neither. Rarely have dessert, and if we have cheese with dinner (also rare) it's part of the appetizer round. For us, cheese is more of a snack, when it's too long since lunch, but not yet time for dinner. That's when I'll run to the fridge and slice off a bit of cheese to tide me over.

What can I say? We're informal as heck out here in the wild west.

No kidding, I just put everything on the stove/counter and Shrek fills his own plate.

When we have guests, the same thing happens and I tell them, "the kitchen is that way". I think I may have a table for dining, but it's only big enough for two people and has turned into a coffee bar.

I didn't grow up with Dessert being served as part of a meal, all meals were served "family style" with no courses involved.
 
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I just went over this post. Fun Read. But in second thought, my mother served good size helpings. No room for dessert. Gingerbread with whipped cream was for when my mother and I would sit at the kitchen table playing cards. We would have a cup of tea with it. Two or three times a week, my mother would bake something for us. When she didn't feel like it, then toast and cocoa was just fine. :angel:
 
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