Here are today’s five things to know about Mousse:

The word mousse is French and translates as “froth” or “foam.”

Cold dessert mousses are often poured into decorative glasses and garnished with fruit, sweet sauces, or whipped cream.

Savory mousses can be made from fish, shellfish, meat, foie gras, etc.

There are three key constituents to a mousse: base, binder, and aerator.

Chocolate mousse really came into the public eye in the U.S. in the 1930’s, about the time as chocolate pudding mixes were introduced.

Today’s Food History

• 1835 Samuel Langhorne Clemens (Mark Twain) was born. American author, pen name Mark Twain, who wrote ‘Tom Sawyer’, ‘Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’, etc. There are many quotes and descriptions about food and dining in his works. An example is: “A man accustomed to American food and American domestic cookery would not starve to death suddenly in Europe, but I think he would gradually waste away, and eventually die.” (From ‘A Tramp Abroad’).
• 1838 The Great Pastry War.  A brief conflict began between Mexico and France caused by a French pastry cook who claimed that some Mexican Army soldiers had damaged his restaurant. The Mexican government refused to pay for damages. Several other countries had pressed the Mexican government for similar claims in the past due to civil unrest in Mexico.  France decided to do something about it, and sent a fleet to Veracruz and fired on the fortress outside the harbor.  They occupied the city on April 16, 1838, and through the mediation of Great Britain were promised payment of 600,000 pesos for the damages.  They withdrew on March 9, 1839.
• 1858 John Landis Mason patented the Mason Jar.
• 1875 P. Ashbourne patented a biscuit cutter.
• 1875 J. Ehrrichson patented an oat-crushing machine.
• 1944 Rob Grill of the music group ‘Grassroots’ was born.
• 1967 Casimir Funk died. Funk was a Polish-American biochemist who came up with the word ‘vitamine’later changed to ‘vitamin.’
• 1983 Alfred Heineken, president of Heinken (the beer) was kidnapped. He was freed after a ransom was paid 3 weeks later.