baked Alaska

== English == === Etymology === Said to have been coined by Charles Ranhofer (1836–1899), the French-American chef de cuisine of Delmonico’s, a restaurant in New York City, New York, United States, to mark the purchase of Alaska from the Russian Empire on 30 March 1867. However, there is no contemporary report of this fact, and in his book The Epicurean (1894) Ranhofer referred to the dish, versions of which pre-dated the Alaska Purchase, as an “Alaska, Florida”, apparently because of the contrast between its cold and hot elements. The dish appears to have been first called an Alaska or baked Alaska some time after the Alaska Purchase. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /beɪkt əˈlaskə/ (General American) enPR: bākt' ə-lăsʹkə, IPA(key): /ˌbeɪkt əˈlæskə/ Hyphenation: baked Alas‧ka === Noun === baked Alaska (countable and uncountable, plural baked Alaskas) A dessert consisting of ice cream encased in cake and meringue and briefly baked. [from 19th c.] Synonym: Alaska / alaska (ellipsis) 1879 December 5, George Augustus [Henry] Sala, “Fashion and Food in New York”, in America Revisited: From the Bay of New York to the Gulf of Mexico, and from Lake Michigan to the Pacific. [...] Illustrated with Nearly 400 Engravings. In Two Volumes, volume I, London: Vizetelly & Co., 42, Catherine Street, Strand, published 1882, →OCLC; 3nd edition, London: Vizetelly & Co., 42, Catherine Street, Strand, 1883, →OCLC, page 90: I dined at Delmonico's hard by the Fifth-avenue Hotel, a few nights ago; and among the dainties which that consummate caterer favoured us with, was an entremet called an "Alaska." The "Alaska" is a baked ice. A beau mentir qui vient de loin; but this is no traveller's tale. The nucleus or core of the entremet is an ice cream. This is surrounded by an envelope of carefully whipped cream, which, just before the dainty dish is served, is popped into the oven, or is brought under the scorching influence of a red hot salamander; so that its surface is covered with a light brown crust. So you go on discussing the warm cream soufflé till you come, with somewhat painful suddenness, on the row of ice. 1997, Toni Morrison, Paradise, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A. Knopf, →ISBN; republished New York, N.Y.: Vintage International, Vintage Books, March 2014, →ISBN, page 73: It was the I-give woman serving up her breasts like two baked Alaskas on a platter that took all the kick out of looking into the boy's eyes. Gigi watched him battle his stare and lose every time. He said his name was K.D. and tried hard to enjoy her face as much as her cleavage while he talked. ==== Translations ==== === References === === Further reading === baked Alaska on Wikipedia.Wikipedia