Miss Florence White ('Mary Evelyn'): 'Flummery'
'Flummery: a name given to various sweet dishes made with milk, flour, eggs, etc.,' is what you will find in modern dictionaries.
This is not, however, the original meaning of the word. In Johnson's Dictionary (1755) it is defined as 'a kind of food made, by coagulation of wheatflour or oatmeal.' It was called 'wash-brew' in the West of England. Flummery allowed to turn sour is the same as the Scotch dish of 'sowans.' Miss White will give recipes for this, the original kind of flummery, and also for solid syllabub. Both are delicious sweets. The use of the word flummery in the eighteenth century to mean flattery or humbug, and in our grandfathers' mouths for any kind of 'silly nonsense,' no doubt dates from the time when any kind of sweet was a frivolous interruption of beef and beer and port and pipes. But flummery is a thoroughly English dish, and Miss White will give recipes for preparing it in the original way.