A mousse (/ˈms/, French: [mus]; lit.'foam') is a soft prepared food that incorporates air bubbles to give it a light and airy texture. Depending on preparation techniques, it can range from light and fluffy to creamy and thick. A mousse may be sweet or savoury.[1]

Mousse
Chocolate mousse garnished with ground cinnamon
CourseDessert
Place of originFrance
Main ingredientsWhipped egg whites or whipped cream, chocolate or puréed fruit
VariationsChocolate, vanilla, strawberry, choco vanilla, etc.

Sweet mousses are typically made with whipped egg whites, whipped cream,[2] or both, and flavored with one or more of chocolate, coffee, caramel,[3] puréed fruits, or various herbs and spices, such as mint or vanilla.[4] In the case of some chocolate mousses, egg yolks are often stirred into melted chocolate to give the final product a richer mouthfeel. Mousses are also typically chilled before being served, which gives them a denser texture. Additionally, mousses are often frozen into silicone molds and unmolded to give the mousse a defined shape. Sweetened mousse is served as a dessert or used as an airy cake filling.[5] It is sometimes stabilized with gelatin.[6][7]

Savoury mousses can be made from meat, fish, shellfish, foie gras, cheese, or vegetables. Hot mousses often get their light texture from the addition of beaten egg whites.[1]

History

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Various desserts consisting of whipped cream in pyramidal shapes with coffee, liqueurs, chocolate, fruits, and so on either in the mixture or poured on top were called crème en mousse ('cream in a foam'), crème mousseuse ('foamy cream'), mousse ('foam'), and so on,[8][9] as early as 1768.[10][11][12] Modern mousses are a continuation of this tradition.

Savoury mousse

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Fish mousse with brown bread and butter was a popular meal of American cuisine and is still sometimes made as a party dip, although it is not as common as it was in the 1950s.[13][14]

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See also

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  Media related to Mousse at Wikimedia Commons   Chocolate Mousse at the Wikibooks Cookbook subproject

References

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  1. ^ a b "Mousse" Archived 2016-12-29 at the Wayback Machine. Food Network Food Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  2. ^ Prosper Montagné, Larousse Gastronomique, 1961 (English translation of 1938 French edition), p. 630
  3. ^ "Caramel & White Chocolate Mousse Recipe". VideoCulinary.com. Archived from the original on 2015-11-01. Retrieved 2016-01-04.
  4. ^ "How to prepare Mousse".[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ "Silky mousses with a stable structure: a few tips and tricks -". Quescrem. 2019-11-29. Archived from the original on 2021-06-25. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  6. ^ Hyman, Gaston (1977). Hyman, Phillip; Hyman, Mary (eds.). Lenôtre's Desserts and Pastries (1st ed.). Woodbury, New York: Barrons Educational Series Inc. p. 78. ISBN 978-0812051377.
  7. ^ "Paris Confidential: The Mystery Mousse Behind The Chocolate Bar". NPR.org. Archived from the original on 2017-10-06. Retrieved 2017-10-05.
  8. ^ M. Emy (officier), L'Art de bien faire les glaces d'office; ou, Les vrais principes pour congeler tous les rafraichissemens, etc, Paris, 1768 p. 222
  9. ^ Alexandre-Balthazar-Laurent Grimod de La Reynière, Néo-Physiologie du gout par order alphabétique ou Dictionnaire générale de la cuisine française, 1839, p. 184
  10. ^ Jim Chevallier, A History of the Food of Paris: From Roast Mammoth to Steak Frites, 2018, ISBN 1442272821, p. 195
  11. ^ "Tante Marie", La Véritable cuisine de famille, comprenant 1.000 recettes et 500 menus, 18??, p. 296 "Crème fouettée (ou Fromage à la Chantilly)"
  12. ^ Mrs. Beeton, The book of household management, 1888, p. 927
  13. ^ Good Housekeeping, July 1907
  14. ^ "Bring Back Salmon Mousse". Taste Magazine. Penguin Random House. Archived from the original on 2021-05-18. Retrieved 2020-09-09.