'À La Mode' Used To Be Associated With A Sauce Instead Of Ice Cream

Treating yourself to a brownie, cookie, tart, or slice of pie is one of life's simplest pleasures. And by some sort of magic, these desserts taste even better served with ice cream — a style commonly referred to as "à la mode." You've likely seen this elegant label on menus, but what exactly does it suggest?

The phrase's history is an example of a linguistic journey in which a word or saying's significance changes over time (like how "salad" initially referred to salted vegetables). The French expression "à la mode," which translates to "in the fashion," was first introduced to the culinary world in a much different context than its current association with ice cream.

The earliest instance of the classy idiom dates back hundreds of years — to sometime between the 16th and mid-17th centuries — when it was used as a label of modern items and concepts, food or otherwise. However, in the 19th century, chefs used "à la mode" to describe beef braised in a wine-based sauce, which used to be very sought after (a fashionable dish, if you will). This cooking method was considered a trendy way to feast on red meat, encapsulating the essence of French gastronomy's innovative spirit. As the term made its way to the U.S., it underwent another evolution: By the mid-20th century, "à la mode" began referring to an entirely new application, completely unrelated to beef.

The transformation of "à la mode" into its now universally-recognized definition (voguishly garnished with ice cream) is often credited to the innovative spirit of American cuisine. According to one legend from the 1890s, a music teacher named Charles Watson Townsend frequented New York's Hotel Cambridge, where he loved to order wedges of apple pie with ice cream for dessert. A hotel worker named Berry Hall spotted the unique pairing and dubbed it "pie à la mode."

When Townsend requested his go-to dessert at Delmonico's in New York City, its absence from the menu was remedied with its immediate addition and subsequent coverage in the "New York Sun." Soon after, ordering pastries "à la mode" became a tradition of enjoying warm sweets with a scoop of ice cream.

This novel interpretation of à la mode captured the appetites of dessert lovers, providing a delicious way to upgrade something like an easy apple pie recipe. The contrast of textures and temperatures elevates post-dinner fare to a level of luxury. The technique is cleverly infused into recipes that combine the best of both worlds, like homemade apple pie ice cream. Multiple major ice cream brands have also experimented with flavors inspired by the style, such as Breyers' CarbSmart brownie à la mode and Baskin-Robbins' apple pie à la mode (which you sadly can't find anymore). With origins that are as rich as a spoonful of cool ice cream over a fresh-out-of-the-oven pastry, "à la mode" is a cornerstone of confectionery vernacular.