Here's a terrific article in Gastro Obscura all about aspics. It covers America's current fascination and disgust with aspics as well as the long history of aspics. In the piece, author Diana Hubbell first explains why modern America has such disdain for aspics:
Whether it's a whole turkey in aspic from the 1920s or a gelatin loaf portrait of Queen Elizabeth, the appeal lies in juxtapositions that feel, well, wrong. It's what Freud would have called unheimlich, but in today's internet parlance is known as "cursed." Like an eyeball with a set of human teeth protruding under the lashes, the cursed aesthetic hinges on an image's ability to make the viewer squirm.
The rest of her article discusses the long history of aspics—she makes clear that aspics were celebrated and embraced for far longer than they have been reviled:
Aspics weren't always cursed. Despite their present-day associations with 20th-century American food gone awry, savory gelatin dishes are neither originally American nor particularly processed. For nearly a thousand years, aspics held a place of honor on festive tables and courtly banquets around the world. The 10th-century Arabic cookbook Kitab al-Tabikh, for example, contains a recipe for a saffron-stained fish aspic that caught the light like a cut garnet.
You should definitely go read the rest of the piece–it provides an incredibly well researched and detailed history, and also features some wonderful images of aspics. Whatever you think about aspics, there's no denying that they are often quite intricate in their construction and dazzling in their presentation.
If you need to see more, here are a few other places where folks share photos of aspics—both current and vintage. You can check out the Facebook group, Aspics with Threatening Auras ("Discovering and discussing aspics that make you feel unsafe while viewing"), the subreddit Aspic, ("Love it, hate it, this gelatinous dish is here to stay. Bask in the eternal glory of aspic. Share recipes, pictures, memes, whatever just show some love for this glorious goo"), the Twitter page Aspics Every Hour, and the Instagram account Show Me Your Aspics. And here's a video from the History channel that presents the history of aspics and then discusses and makes an ancient aspic recipe: jelly with fish tongues and lips suspended in it. YUM!
