Blancmange
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses, see Blancmange (disambiguation).
Blancmange, pronounced [bləˈmɒn] or [bləˈmɒnʒ] or [bləˈmɑːndʒ], is a jelly dessert made of milk and/or cream, sugar, gelatin or cornstarch, and flavouring (usually almond). It is set in a mould and served cold. The term blancmanger also exists derived from the same source (although it is generally considered archaic or obsolete). The latter term generally refers to the older (medieval) recipes whereas blancmange is generally used to refer to the modern varieties.
Blancmange originated in the Arab world where it is known as "mehallabiyyah" (gets eaten quickly, presumably because it is good) and reached medieval Europe through Sicily and Spain. Its basic form involved shredded capon flesh (cf. tavuk göğsü ), and almond milk or ground almonds, often with rosewater, boiled together into a thick soup or runny stew. In the 16th century, a meatless version using cream, sugar and eggs was developed, and towards the end of the 17th century, a new kind of blancmange, a calf's foot or hartshorn jelly flavoured with almond and rosewater, and perhaps including milk, was introduced. In the 19th century, this was prepared using arrowroot, today cornflour is usually used. Blancmanges are usually pink or white.
The term blancmange is derived from the Middle English blankmanger, from Old French blanc mangier: blanc, white (of Germanic origin) + mangier, to eat, food (from Latin manducare). Several medieval recipes for blancmange have survived, and the dish is mentioned in the prologue to Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
Some similar desserts are: Bavarian cream, malabi, flan.
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[edit] Blancmanges in popular culture
Mentioned in LITTLE WOMEN by Louisa May Alcott as the offering made by sister Meg for neighbor Laurie proffered by impetuous Josephine (Jo) to soothe the sore throat of Laurie the first time Jo visits Laurie.
[edit] Blancmanges in Monty Python's TV humor
Warning: unappetizing scenes described
Blancmanges feature prominently in the latter four linked TV sketches of Monty Python's Flying Circus Episode Seven: You're no fun any more. (Science fiction sketch; Man turns into Scotsman; Police station; Blancmanges playing tennis)
A table-size sentient Blancmange from planet Skyron of the Andromeda Galaxy turns the tables by eating people, especially now-historic players of tennis. Alien Blancmange(s) also have the power to instantly turn 48 million English citizens into northward-marching Scots. Chief Scientist Charles, his mistreated bimbo girlfriend, and a police detective eventually deduce that this bizarre cultural conversion and player consumption is an effort to depopulate England and win the Wimbledon tennis championships. The core theory here is that if everyone in the United Kingdom is turned into Scotspeople, they are sure to lose the tennis match, since (according to the characters) Scots are terrible at tennis. What the Blancmanges stand to gain by winning at Wimbledon is never brought up.
The Blancmange(s) from space eat 1970s tennis stars. Then, a single tennis-playing Blancmange is thwarted when it is chased and eaten by a couple armed with forks, spoons, and napkins. The couple, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Brainsample, were snubbed as boring in the first scene, but they too just happen to be from the Blancmange(s)' home planet of Skyron. With all the famous players and the Blancmange eaten, the only remaining tennis player is kilt salesman Angus Podgorny. Podgorny seems strangely cheerful for having watched his wife being eaten a few scenes earlier. The wrapup sports announcer narrates the unlikely TV spectacle of a Scotsman winning Wimbledon after playing against himself — hopping back and forth across the net — for 15 years, we are told.
Multiple Blancmange sightings are mentioned, but only one is seen and eaten in the final sketch. The Monty Python Blancmange looks more like a round coffee table in a white fabric tent than a gelatinous pudding.
Blancmange puddings are commonplace in the UK and thus unexplained in the sketch. No real blancmanges appear. That food is generally unfamiliar to Americans, and the intended food humor is typically incomprehensible in the U.S. Fortunately "Blancmange" is spelled out during the display of a tennis score and can be looked up by those baffled. The incomprehensibility enhances the Pythonesque reputation for creative absurdity, but the people-eating scenes (off camera with slurping noises) become more horrific than the writers intended.
[edit] External links
- Blanc-Manger: A Journey Through Time
- Monty Python's Flying Circus Episode Seven: You're no fun any more; Script features an extragalactic Blancmange pudding.
- Wasfa Sahla: Recipe: Mehalabeya
