Blancmange
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- This article is about the food. For other uses, see Blancmange (disambiguation).
Blancmange, pronounced [bləˈmɒn] or [bləˈmɒnʒ] or [bləˈmɑːndʒ] (also known informally as shape), is a gelatin 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, haupia.
