Blancmange

Welcome to History's Greatest Dishes – the series from HistoryExtra in which food historian Annie Gray chats with Emily Briffett about the origins of some of the most unusual, innovative and enduring delicacies.

First on the menu is blancmange. For some people, the word conjures moments of horror from the school cafeteria. Yet, as Annie and Emily discuss in this episode, the original medieval recipe for a meat-and-milk dish enjoyed by the well-to-do is, if anything, even stranger to modern sensibilities. So what sparked its transformation from an elite treat to a mass-produced dessert? And what can this shift tell us about changes in social class, culinary technology – and our appetite for food that wobbles?

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