Definition: melba

It was Auguste Escoffier who created this dessert in 1893 for Nelly Melba, the opera singer, in gratitude for the pleasure he had in hearing her voice at Covent Garden Opera in the role of Elsa in Lohengrin. The next day, he served her this fabulous dessert consisting of a poached peach on a bed of vanilla ice cream in a silver cup decorated with two swan wings carved from ice and covered with a veil of spun sugar. However, Escoffier felt that something was still missing to make this dessert truly perfect, and he had the idea of adding raspberries.