Blancmange

Blancmange (, from French: blanc-manger [blɑ̃mɑ̃ʒe], lit. 'white food') is a sweet dessert made throughout Europe commonly made with milk or cream, and sugar, thickened with rice flour, gelatin or cornflour, and often flavoured with almonds.

It is usually set in a mould and served cold. Although traditionally white, blancmanges are frequently given other colours.

Blancmange originated at some time during the Middle Ages from the older Middle Eastern muhallebi, and usually consisted of capon or chicken, milk or almond milk, rice, and sugar; it was considered to be an ideal food for the sick.

Similar desserts include Bavarian cream, Italian panna cotta, Turkish tavuk göğsü, Chinese almond tofu, Hawai'ian haupia, Spanish manjar blanco, Brazilian manjar branco, Filipino maja blanca, and Puerto Rican tembleque.

History

The origins of the blancmange have long been believed to lie in the introduction of rice and almonds in early medieval Europe by Arab traders. Recently, it has been shown that there have been similar Arab dishes from that period such as muhallebi. Muhallebi, or another similar dish from the medieval Islamic world, spread to Europe first as blanc-manger in France, later translated to biancomangiare in Italy and manjar blanco in Spain. Additionally, related or similar dishes have existed in other areas of Europe under other names, such as the 13th-century Danish hwit moos ("white mush"), and the Anglo-Norman blanc desirree ("white dish"); Dutch calijs (from Latin colare, "to strain") was known in English as cullis and in French as coulis, and was based on cooked and then strained poultry. The oldest recipe for blancmange is from the oldest extant Danish cookbook, written by Henrik Harpestræng, who died in 1244, which dates it to the early 13th century at the latest.