Flummery is a starch-based, sweet, soft dessert
pudding known to have been popular in Britain and Ireland from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries. The word has also been used for other semi-set desserts.
History and etymology
The name is first known in
Gervase Markham
Gervase (or Jervis) Markham (ca. 1568 – 3 February 1637) was an English poet and writer. He was best known for his work '' The English Huswife, Containing the Inward and Outward Virtues Which Ought to Be in a Complete Woman'', first publishe ...
's 1623 ''Countrey Contentments, or English Huswife'' (new ed.) vi. 222 "From this small Oat-meale, by oft steeping it in water and clensing it, and then boyling it to a thicke and stiffe jelly, is made that excellent dish of meat which is so esteemed in the West parts of this Kingdome, which they call Wash-brew, and in Chesheire and Lankasheire they call it Flamerie or Flumerie".
The name is derived from the Welsh word for a similar dish made from sour oatmeal and husks, , which is of unknown origin. It is also attested in variant forms such as ''thlummery'' or ''flamery'' in 17th and 18th century English.
[''Oxford English Dictionary'', s.v. "flummery".] The word "flummery" later came to have generally pejorative connotations of a bland, empty, and unsatisfying food. From this use, "flummery" developed the meaning of empty compliments, unsubstantial talk or writing, and nonsense.
A pint of flummery was suggested as an alternative to of bread and a of new milk for the supper of sick inmates in Irish
workhouse
In Britain, a workhouse () was an institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. (In Scotland, they were usually known as poorhouses.) The earliest known use of the term ''workhouse' ...
s in the 1840s.
Australasian "flummery"
In Australia and New Zealand, post World War II, flummery was the name given to a different foodstuff, a
mousse dessert made with beaten
evaporated milk
Evaporated milk, known in some countries as "unsweetened condensed milk", is a shelf-stable canned cow’s milk product where about 60% of the water has been removed from fresh milk. It differs from sweetened condensed milk, which contains adde ...
, sugar, and
gelatine
Gelatin or gelatine (from la, gelatus meaning "stiff" or "frozen") is a translucent, colorless, flavorless food ingredient, commonly derived from collagen taken from animal body parts. It is brittle when dry and rubbery when moist. It may also ...
. Also made using jelly crystals, mousse flummery became established as an inexpensive alternative to traditional cream-based mousse. In the Queensland town of
Longreach
Longreach is a town and a locality in the Longreach Region, Queensland, Australia. It is the administrative centre of the Longreach Regional Council, which was established in 2008 as a merger of the former Longreach, Ilfracombe, and Isisford ...
, it was a staple food in the 1970s and in the New South Wales town of
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...
, it was a fall-back dessert in the 1950s. The American writer
Bill Bryson
William McGuire Bryson (; born 8 December 1951) is an American–British journalist and author. Bryson has written a number of nonfiction books on topics including travel, the English language, and science. Born in the United States, he has b ...
described flummery as an early form of the
blancmange
Blancmange (, from french: blanc-manger ) is a sweet dessert popular throughout Europe commonly made with milk or cream and sugar thickened with rice flour, gelatin, corn starch, or Irish moss (a source of carrageenan), and often flavoured ...
dessert known in the United States.
[in his book '' Made in America'']
See also
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References
External links
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{{Puddings
British desserts
Irish cuisine
Australian desserts
New Zealand desserts
Puddings