Type Dessert | Created by Auguste Escoffier | |
 | ||
Main ingredients Peaches, raspberry sauce, vanilla ice cream Similar Dessert, Peach, Melba toast, Poire belle Hélène, Vanilla ice cream | ||
How to make peach melba
The Peach Melba (French: pêche Melba, pronounced [pɛʃ mɛl.ba]) is a dessert of peaches and raspberry sauce with vanilla ice cream. The dish was invented in 1892 or 1893 by the French chef Auguste Escoffier at the Savoy Hotel, London, to honour the Australian soprano Nellie Melba.
Contents
- How to make peach melba
- Peach melba recipe vanilla poached peaches with fresh raspberry sauce on ice cream
- Creation of the dish
- Variations
- Cultural significance
- References
Peach melba recipe vanilla poached peaches with fresh raspberry sauce on ice cream
Creation of the dish
In 1892, Nellie Melba was performing in Wagner's opera Lohengrin at Covent Garden. The Duke of Orléans gave a dinner party to celebrate her triumph. For the occasion, Escoffier created a new dessert, and to display it, he used an ice sculpture of a swan, which is featured in the opera. The swan carried peaches which rested on a bed of vanilla ice cream and which were topped with spun sugar. In 1900 Escoffier created a new version of the dessert. For the occasion of the opening of the Carlton Hotel, where he was head chef, Escoffier omitted the ice swan and topped the peaches with raspberry purée.
Variations
Other versions substitute pears, apricots, or strawberries instead of peaches and/or use raspberry sauce or melted redcurrant jelly instead of raspberry purée. The original dish used simple ingredients of "tender and very ripe peaches, vanilla ice cream, and a purée of sugared raspberry". Escoffier himself is quoted as saying: "Any variation on this recipe ruins the delicate balance of its taste.”
Cultural significance
In tribute to Escoffier an elaborate deconstruction of the Peach Melba was served as the last dish at elBulli prior to its closure in 2012.
