A Christmas with Trifle This Christmas, I'm going to make trifle for desert. After all,what is Christmas without trifle? I'm sure, even the pickiest ofdiners who shun cross-cultural eating would find a soft culinaryspot for trifle in their hearts and palates if they could hearCharles Dickens vouch for it.
I first tasted trifle, a couple of decades ago, not in Englandwhere it has originated but in Long Island, NY, in a restaurantcalled Steak Pub of Fort Salonga, where every Friday evening, weused to go for dinner, especially for trifle and the free housewine. Our friends and neighbors who dined there for the samereason would drop by our table to discuss the kind of trifle thechef was surprising us with that the evening. To us, trifle andfood was all about sharing, same as the neighborly gossip. Inthat restaurant, desert was picked by the customer from thedesert bar, giving him or her an educational access to thedesert chef.
Trifle, as a word, is the offspring of the French word trufle,meaning something trite or whimsical. As a desert, trifle putdown its roots inside the 1700s cooking arts when biscuits,liquor, and custard were combined. In the United States, thisnew delicacy found great popularity with the plantation ownersin the south.
Through the last three centuries, trifle has soaked its wayinto literature through the writers' tongues, after OliverWendell Holmes called it, "That most wonderful object ofdomestic art," Dickens put it among his 'glorious food's, and J.K. Rowling mentioned it in Harry Potter and the Philosopher'sStone.
Trifle not only delights the palate but also enchants
thesenses, especially the eyes, for it is an artistic desertarranged in layers, placed in trifle bowl for effect, andrefrigerated for several hours before serving. A trifle bowl isa very large, see-through glass bowl from which every deliciouslayer of trifle beckons its admirers.
Trifle's layers are: a sponge cake or even ladies fingers soakedin brandy, whisky, or sherry; jelly or jam; custard; fresh fruitor berries in season; and huge mounds of whipped cream toppedwith cherries, sprinkles, or nuts. Although whatever composesthe trifle can be made from a mix or sometimes leftover cakesand puddings can be used, a true-to -form trifle gourmet wouldlike his trifle to be made from scratch. After the trifle'slayers are arranged, refrigeration for several hours isessential for the flavors to penetrate into each layer.
There are quite a few kinds of trifle: chocolate trifle,coronation trifle, quick trifle, Black Forest trifle, and thegood old-fashioned trifle English mums make as an alternateChristmas desert to the plum pudding. My trifle shall not takethe celebrity route, neither, tastewise, will it come close toEmeril's deserts or Creole Christmas Trifle, but it will make animpact on Santa when he comes down our chimney. I'm sure of that.
About the author:
Joy Cagil is an author on a site for
Creative Writing(http://www.Writing.Com/) Her training is in foreign languagesand linguistics. Her culinary skills are self-taught. Herportfolio can be found at
