This is a very interesting and enjoyable video for a fan of Agatha Christie like me. Something struck me about her constant research into poisons as this happened long before the creation of the internet and insidious search engines. These days she might have had someone knocking on her door very early one morning.
That Christie story from the Tuesday Murder Club had another food mystery for this American, besides not knowing what Hundreds and Thousands are, and that is the "bowl of corn flour" that also figured in the solution. This somewhat archaic term took some research, since it is not explained in the story, but it seems to be a sort of blandly sweet concoction of what we call corn starch, designed to settle an upset stomach. If this is not correct, I hope someone will tell me, I'm still not quite sure.
Yeah, that's basically it. You might also make it with what we in the UK might call cornmeal (what's called cornmeal, cornflour and cornstarch can get really muddled I've found), but it is meant to be a smooth easy-on-the-stomach thing. Same kind of principle as semolina or custard (fun fact, I'm not good with commercial custard powder, so I basically made okay-for-me custard by mixing fine cornflour with an egg and sugar).
This is a very interesting and enjoyable video for a fan of Agatha Christie like me. Something struck me about her constant research into poisons as this happened long before the creation of the internet and insidious search engines. These days she might have had someone knocking on her door very early one morning.
That Christie story from the Tuesday Murder Club had another food mystery for this American, besides not knowing what Hundreds and Thousands are, and that is the "bowl of corn flour" that also figured in the solution. This somewhat archaic term took some research, since it is not explained in the story, but it seems to be a sort of blandly sweet concoction of what we call corn starch, designed to settle an upset stomach. If this is not correct, I hope someone will tell me, I'm still not quite sure.
Yeah, that's basically it. You might also make it with what we in the UK might call cornmeal (what's called cornmeal, cornflour and cornstarch can get really muddled I've found), but it is meant to be a smooth easy-on-the-stomach thing. Same kind of principle as semolina or custard (fun fact, I'm not good with commercial custard powder, so I basically made okay-for-me custard by mixing fine cornflour with an egg and sugar).