'À La Mode' Is a Lonely Survivor of a French Culinary Code

Cherry pie à la mode. ALOHA75/CC BY 2.0

Today most of know that the term à la mode on a menu refers to desserts topped with a scoop of ice cream but in America, à la Nesselrode and à la Maryland are à la gone.
In the 19th century, high-end restaurants in America didn’t lengthily describe their menu offerings. Instead, brief, meaningful wording indicated to diners the sauce and cooking style of their meal. According to Henry Voigt, one of America’s foremost menu collectors and scholars, people who encountered these terms on their menus quickly understood what they meant.

More: Gastro Obscura