Apedia

Madeleine French Evokes Named Cake Memory Article April

A madeleine is a small, shell-shaped cake, or something that strongly evokes a memory.

A madeleine is a small, rich, shell-shaped cake. It can also refer to something, like a taste or smell, that evokes a vivid memory.

Word madeleine
Date April 14, 2014
Type noun
Syllables MAD-uh-lun
Etymology The madeleine is said to have been named after a 19th-century French cook named Madeleine Paumier, but it was the French author Marcel Proust who immortalized the pastry in his 1913 book Swann's Way, the first volume of his seven-part novel Remembrance of Things Past. In that work, a taste of tea-soaked cake evokes a surge of memory and nostalgia. As more and more readers chewed on the profound mnemonic power attributed to a mere morsel of cake, the word "madeleine" itself became a designation for anything that evokes a memory.
Examples "The evening started with wine and snacks, which included house-made charcuterie, cheese, and cornbread madeleines-the latter, I thought, a clever mashup of French and US traditions…." - From an article by Tom Philpott on MotherJones.com, March 11, 2014 "Every year, the family gathered in the backyard to roast a whole pig in a pit. Between the smell and the smoke, it makes for my own 35-pound madeleine." - From an article by Ana Menéndez in Gourmet, September 2007
Definition 1 : a small rich shell-shaped cake
2 : one that evokes a memory

Tags: wordoftheday::noun

Learn with these flashcards. Click next, previous, or up to navigate to more flashcards for this subject.

Next card: State tabula term rasa blank original article city

Previous card: Walter mitty story heroic april noun wawl-ter-mit-ee original

Up to card list: Word of the Day