Mohr im Hemd

Mohr im Hemd, served in a Viennese coffee house

Bare, without sauce or cream

Mohr im Hemd is an Austrian confectionery. Chocolatier Jacques Torres claims to have invented the dish, but Jean-Georges Vongerichten disputes him vehemently, saying that he accidentally pulled a chocolate sponge cake out of the oven before it was finished and discovered a runny center. It is sold worldwide under name Lava Cake. Mainly it consists of chocolate, crumbs of bread, sugar, yolk, almonds and red wine. It is shaped like a small gugelhupf. Similar to the English Christmas pudding the Mohr im Hemd is cooked in water. Afterwards it is covered in hot chocolate and decorated with whipped cream. Sometimes the Mohr is served along with ice cream and thus gets called Eismohr im Hemd. A Mohr im Hemd can be savoured in Austrian coffee houses as well as restaurants. Sometimes you can get a Mohr in a Bavarian confectionery shop as well.

The term Mohr is an outdated German term for people with dark skin. Im Hemd (literally: "in a shirt") refers to the (white) cream covering the chocolate cake

Controversy regarding the denomination

In 2012, the SOS Mitmensch organization claimed that the term Mohr im Hemd is racist, suggesting it ought to be replaced (e.g. by Schokokuchen mit Schlag, Schokohupf oder Kakaohupf). Backers of the argumentation state the term Mohr is discriminating due to historical reasons. Defenders of the term counter by stating Mohr is an outdated term used almost exclusively in art (Othello), sayings (Der Mohr hat seine Schuldigkeit getan, der Mohr kann gehen. – "The Moor has done his duty, the Moor can go.", quotation from Schiller's Fiesco), historic works (and rarely pejorative) or – completely without a reference to a person – as a name for confectionaries. But then Hitler was Austrian, so there you go.