A Fine Dessert: Four Centuries, Four Families, One Delicious Treat
By Emily Jenkins
Illustrated by Sophie Blackall
Schwartz & Wade
This elegantly illustrated picture book highlights a famous English dessert, “Blackberry Fool,” and how it has remained a popular dessert through the centuries even though the methods of obtaining the ingredients have changed. It begins in 1710 England where a mother and daughter pick fresh blackberries from the field, beat fresh cream from the cow, strain seeds from the blackberries and mix the berry juice and cream with a bit of sugar to then be chilled in a hillside with winter ice. After a family supper, the dessert is served and enjoyed by all.
One century later, in South Carolina, one family prepares the same dessert, only the cream is delivered by a horse-drawn carriage and chilled in an ice box in the basement. Another century later, in 1910, a mother and daughter purchase fresh blackberries from a street market in Boston, Massachusetts and receive pasteurized cream from the milkman on their front step; after chilling in the kitchen ice box, the dessert is enjoyed following a lovely Sunday dinner.
Finally, in modern-day 2010, a father and son purchase blackberries and organic cream from the supermarket, prepare the dessert and store it in their refrigerator, later enjoying it with friends at a dinner party. This book expertly highlights for children the warmth and comfort of preparing their own food and enjoying a meal surrounded by family and friends. It also fosters discussion about changes in the food system and how the freshness of cream from a cow, for example, is different than organic pasteurized cream from the store. The book finishes with a recipe for Blackberry Fool as well as some history behind the dessert and the time periods when it was made. A lovely read to be enjoyed by the whole family, especially if the dessert is made!
This article appeared in Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts, the quarterly journal of the Weston A. Price Foundation, Winter 2024
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Does the book say where the sugar comes from? It would be interesting: sugar beets, honey, sugar cane, maple; produced by sorta-local farmer in vast fields, by beekeepers, by American Indians, or in a distant country by slaves.