Dessert

The word “dessert,” referring to a sweet dish usually eaten at the end of the meal, was first used by the French in the sixteenth century. However, the tradition of eating a sweet course at the end of the meal goes back at least 2,500 years to the ancient Persians. This is documented by Herodotus in his famous work The Histories. He writes that the dessert-loving Persians mocked the Greeks for not having any proper sweet dishes. Iranians believed that finishing a meal with something sweet helped the digestion. At the end of a meal they would clear away the sofreh (everything laid out on the table) and prepare a new setting, usually outside in the garden, where they would then serve wine together with many light sweets and small dishes/noghl-e mey, such as fresh or candied dried fruits, nuts, dragées (nuts coated in sugar), and baklava. The French then adopted the same custom, calling it “dessert” from the French de-servir meaning “to clear the table.”