Recent letters about desserts made with jelly and evaporated milk (27 December) reveal an interesting backstory, going back at least to the 17th century. In those days, it was made by boiling oatmeal down into a jelly, which was served to workhouse inmates and prisoners and was called flummery. Its blandness resulted in the word being used in its current sense as an empty and unsatisfying compliment.
But it was reinvented and reintroduced after the second world war as a cheap dessert made from jelly and condensed milk, specifically Carnation milk. The vehicle for its reintroduction was an advertising campaign by Carnation, which promoted its “jelly whip” recipe in newspapers and on its packaging. Whether you call it jelly mousse, fluff, whip or flummery, remember that this was originally the food of the very poorest people.
David Smith
Maspalomas, Spain
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