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What country does the profiterole originate from?

Question #94449. Asked by Jacob_Tyers.
Last updated Aug 30 2021.

avatar
BRY2K
Answer has 6 votes
Currently Best Answer
BRY2K
16 year member
3707 replies avatar

Answer has 6 votes.

Currently voted the best answer.
A profiterole or cream puff (U.S.) is a food made from a small, round baked choux pastry filled with a sweet filling. The most common form nowadays is a dessert filled with whipped cream or pastry cream, and often served with chocolate sauce or a caramel glaze.

The origin of both the pastry and the name are obscure. The word (also spelled prophitrole, profitrolle, profiterolle)has existed in English since the 16th century. The original meaning in both English and French is unclear, but later it came to mean a kind of roll 'baked under the ashes'. A 17th-century French recipe for a Potage de profiteolles or profiterolles describes a soup of dried small breads (presumably the profiteroles) simmered in almond broth and garnished with cockscombs, truffles, and so on.

The current meaning is only clearly attested in the 19th century. The word originated in french, as a diminutive for "profit",or, "small gain." It is used for cream puffs and eclairs, which ARE french in origin.
My vote goes to France!

link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profiterole

Response last updated by gtho4 on Aug 30 2021.
Apr 10 2008, 7:34 AM
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zbeckabee star
Answer has 5 votes
zbeckabee star
Moderator
18 year member
11752 replies avatar

Answer has 5 votes.
They are probably French originally, or at least the name is.

Re: Meaning "Profit" or "small gains" - It may have begun with denoting "a little something extra" cooked along with the master's main dish as part of the servants' perks.

Alexander Barclay, in his Eclogues (1515) writes "to toast white shivers (slices of bread) and to make profiteroles, and after talking oft time to fill the bowl."

link http://www.hub-uk.com/tallyrecip01/recipe0047.htm

Apr 10 2008, 10:38 AM
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