Ris a la mande
Risalamande (also spelled as ris a la mande or ris à l'amande, though risalamande is the only spelling authorized by Dansk Sprognævn[1]; from the pseudo-French riz à l'amande meaning "rice with almonds") is a traditional Danish dessert typically served at Christmas.
Risalamande was created in the last part of the 19th century. It is made out of rice pudding mixed with whipped cream, vanilla, and chopped almonds; and is usually served cold with a cherry sauce (kirsebærsauce).
It started to get popular in the when rice pudding got more common. Until then rice pudding had been a very exclusive dish, as making it required two expensive, imported ingredients: rice and cinnamon. After World War II, risalamande experienced an increase in popularity, being touted as a "savings" dessert: adding whipped cream (which was easily available) to the still fairly expensive rice would make the rice last longer. In order to minimize costs, risalamande was frequently made without almonds during this time, too.[citation needed]
Nowadays, it is very common to make a large batch of rice pudding for dinner on lillejuleaften ("Little Christmas Eve", i.e. December 23rd), a part of which is kept until Christmas Eve and used to make risalamande, which is eaten as dessert after the big Christmas dinner.
Normally there is one whole almond in the dessert, and the person who finds it wins a special prize - perhaps a chocolate heart, a marzipan pig, an issue of Svikmøllen, or a small board game.[2] Part of the game involves the finder concealing his discovery as long as possible, so that the rest of the company is forced to eat the entire dish of risalamande, even after they have already devoured a large Christmas dinner.
See also
References
- ^ Den Danske Ordbog, risalamande entry. Retrieved 25 December 2010.
- ^ Danish Christmas Traditions. Retrieved 25 July 2009.