Only Fools & Trifles

When researching the dish with the peculiar name of ‘fool’ you soon find out that it can’t be separated from another equally peculiar-sounding dish called a ‘trifle’. These words mean something of little importance, but the puddings are quite the opposite. They usually grace the table at every special occasion and sons always prefer their mother’s version to their wife’s.

It is a dish that boasts nostalgia, and made well, it is truly a feast for the eye as well as the palate.

A fool is a dessert made by blending puréed fruits – most commonly gooseberries or other tart fruit – with sweetened cream. It seems the exact origin of the name of this dish is lost in time. Some claim it’s derived from the French verb ‘fouler’, which is used in the context of crushing grapes for wine; however, this doesn’t make sense as, in the sixteenth century when the dish is first mentioned, the usage of the verb fouler didn’t mean to crush or squeeze juice from fruit.