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What is "aspic"

Crossword clues for aspic

aspic
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
aspic
noun
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ A more elegant and courtly preparation was quail in aspic, often served with foie gras or truMes.
▪ By the mid-1990s Northern Ireland had the feeling of a country in aspic.
▪ Evocative, yes, but don't think that today's Ireland is set in some quaint emerald aspic.
▪ He had large dark eyes, like pears set in port wine aspic, deep pools in a thin, delicate face.
▪ He had time to think, time to become an old man in aspic, in sculptured soap, quaint and white.
▪ His head is perfect, tanned the shade of aspic, kept beautiful by concentration.
▪ Pour in the cool saffron aspic as you go, layer by layer.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Aspic

Aspic \As"pic\, n. [F. See Asp.]

  1. The venomous asp. [Chiefly poetic]
    --Shak. Tennyson.

  2. A piece of ordnance carrying a 12 pound shot. [Obs.]

Aspic

Aspic \As"pic\, n. [F., a corrupt. of spic (OF. espi, F. A European species of lavender ( Lavandula spica), which produces a volatile oil. See Spike.

Aspic

Aspic \As"pic\, n. [F., prob. fr. aspic an asp.] A savory meat jelly containing portions of fowl, game, fish, hard boiled eggs, etc.
--Thackeray.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
aspic

"savory meat jelly," 1789, from French aspic "jelly" (18c.), literally "asp," from Old French aspe (see asp) + ending from basilisc "basilisk" (the two creatures sometimes were confused with one another). The foodstuff said to be so called from its coldness (froid comme un aspic is said by Littré to be a proverbial phrase), or the colors in the gelatin, or the shape of the mold. It also was a French word for "lavendar spike" and might refer to this as a seasoning element.

Wiktionary
aspic

a. aspish; relating to an asp, a small venomous snake of Egypt. n. 1 a dish in which ingredients are set into a gelatine, jelly-like substance made from a meat stock or consommé. 2 (context obsolete poetic English) an asp, a small venomous snake of Egypt. 3 A piece of ordnance carrying a 12-pound shot.

WordNet
aspic

n. savory jelly based on fish or meat stock used as a mold for meats or vegetables

Wikipedia
Aspic

Aspic is a dish in which ingredients are set into a gelatin made from a meat stock or consommé. Non- savory dishes, often made with commercial gelatin mixes without stock or consommé, are usually called gelatin salads.

When cooled, stock that is made from meat congeals because of the natural gelatin found in the meat. The stock can be clarified with egg whites, and then filled and flavored just before the aspic sets. Almost any type of food can be set into aspics. Most common are meat pieces, fruits, or vegetables. Aspics are usually served on cold plates so that the gel will not melt before being eaten. A meat jelly that includes cream is called a chaud-froid.

Nearly any type of meat can be used to make the gelatin: pork, beef, veal, chicken, turkey, or fish. The aspic may need additional gelatin in order to set properly. Veal stock provides a great deal of gelatin; in making stock, veal is often included with other meat for that reason. Fish consommés usually have too little natural gelatin, so the fish stock may be double-cooked or supplemented. Since fish gelatin melts at a lower temperature than gelatins of other meats, fish aspic is more delicate and melts more readily in the mouth.

Vegetables and fish stocks need gelatin to maintain a molded shape.

Usage examples of "aspic".

When the aspic is set, trim neatly, and arrange each round of sweetbread on a slice of chilled tomato.

Decorate the space above with slices of potato and beet cut in diamonds, and surround the base with light-green aspic cut in diamonds.

When set, with a hot spoon scoop out the aspic from the centre of each mould and fill in the space with a mixture of the vegetables and jelly mayonnaise, leaving an open space at the top to be filled with half-set aspic.

Garnish with flowerets of cauliflower, dipped in aspic and chilled, and lettuce.

When the aspic is thoroughly set and chilled, remove from the mould and serve on two lettuce leaves, with any dressing desired.

Dip into a little aspic jelly or melted gelatine and arrange the quarters in the form of a circle, with the yolks outside.

Set the mould in ice water, and, when the aspic is set, arrange upon it a decoration of cooked vegetables cut in shapes with French cutter, or fashion a conventional design or some flower.

Dip in half-set aspic the white of egg, poached and cut in fanciful shapes, and small gherkins cut in thin slices, and decorate the bottom and sides of a charlotte or cylindrical mould standing in ice water.

When removed from the mould, garnish with chopped aspic and fans cut from gherkins and lettuce.

When cold and very firm cut out the cutlets, giving a border of aspic to each.

When the sauce has set, brush over the medallions with aspic jelly, cold but not set.

In an emergency, aspic may be made from the prepared extracts of beef, or from bouillon capsules.

When ready to serve, prepare as lobster sandwiches with aspic, using fish in the place of lobster, and, if desired, sauce tartare in the place of mayonnaise.

That was good, that was a relief, but there remained such a distance to travel, over ground that seemed shaky as aspic beneath her, and she really was very tired When she crumpled unconscious to the cobbles, she had the good fortune to be noticed.

But today was market day down in Aspic Hole, and the pungent slick of dung-smell and rot that rolled over New Crobuzon was, in these streets, for these hours, improved with paprika and fresh tomato, hot oil and fish and cinnamon, cured meat, banana and onion.