*Mousse means foam or froth in French.
*The Palace of Versailles, in the early 1700s, often served savory salmon or goat cheese mousse at the royal banquets.
*Many foodies believe that Henri Toulouse Lautrec, the famous post-impressionist painter, invented chocolate mousse in the late nineteenth century. He called his version mayonnaise de chocolat. Great story but it was around long before that time.
*Italian semifreddo is basically frozen chocolate mousse.
*Mousse doesn’t have to be chocolate. Some people make it with flavors like vanilla, strawberry, lavender, butterscotch, key lime, Pina colada, pumpkin, and lemon cheesecake.
*In Julia Child’s 1961 cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, she included three recipes under the same heading: Moussline au Chocolat, Mayonnaise au Chocolat, Fondant au Chocolat. They were all chocolate mousse.
*Mousse can be made sugar-free.
*Mousse is great in a cake, pie, or ice cream.
*Mousse can be light and fluffy, creamy and thick.
*Sweet mousse uses whipped egg whites, whipped cream or both to give it a light texture.
*Traditionally, mousse is made from chocolate, cream, sugar, butter, and eggs although the recipe has been altered in many different ways.
*Air bubbles make mousse light and fluffy.
*The most famous and popular dessert mousse flavor is chocolate.
*Mousse appeared in American restaurants in the 1960s.
*Today, mousse is loved around the world.
*Mousse is generally served chilled to give it a denser texture.
*Savory mousse is made from ingredients like salmon, smoked trout, shrimp, cod-and-potatoes, sable, chicken, duck, and goose liver.
*Savory mousse is often served as a dip or with brown bread and butter.
*Angel Delight is a powdered mousse mix from the UK.
*Martha Stewart’s “Decadent Chocolate Mousse” recipe has only five ingredients: egg yolks, sugar, heavy cream, bittersweet chocolate, and vanilla.
*According to Erica Martinez in Food Republic, mousse reached its “pinnacle of popularity” in America in the mid twentieth century, “thanks to recipes from Julia Child’s cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking and Betty Crocker’s cookbooks.
*Today there are many recipes for eggless, low-sugar, dairy-free, and non-chocolate mousse.
*You can purchase “hair mousse” or styling foam to enhance curls and volume – but don’t eat it!
*Some popular ingredients added to chocolate mousse include orange, caramel, mint, shredded coconut, wine, rum and raisin, and nut butters.
Enjoy!
