Hmm, interesting. From what I've found, I think it probably refers to cornflour pudding -- cornstarch, milk, sugar, and some kind of flavouring.
From consulting my mum (who seems to have read everything by and about Christie), the character asked for the dish due to stomach upset (blamed on lobster), then decided against it. Another character argued that 'banting' was unhealthy -- more to the point, that her naturally 'stout' form was not unhealthy -- and convinced her to eat it after all.
This was somehow relevant to exonerating another character (though I'm unclear how).
The only other thing I know about this dish is that it has unusual physical properties. So-called 'oobleck' is a non-Newtonian 'dilatant' (pressure-thickening) fluid, which is fluid at rest but becomes thicker when force is applied - the more force, the more thickening. This has something to do with the molecules having trouble getting over and around each other quickly. If you punch a bowl of cornstarch pudding, it will feel solid.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2009-01-06 12:58 am (UTC)From consulting my mum (who seems to have read everything by and about Christie), the character asked for the dish due to stomach upset (blamed on lobster), then decided against it. Another character argued that 'banting' was unhealthy -- more to the point, that her naturally 'stout' form was not unhealthy -- and convinced her to eat it after all.
This was somehow relevant to exonerating another character (though I'm unclear how).
The only other thing I know about this dish is that it has unusual physical properties. So-called 'oobleck' is a non-Newtonian 'dilatant' (pressure-thickening) fluid, which is fluid at rest but becomes thicker when force is applied - the more force, the more thickening. This has something to do with the molecules having trouble getting over and around each other quickly. If you punch a bowl of cornstarch pudding, it will feel solid.