aspic

i'm desperately seeking information on aspics and chaud froid, specifically their origins...can anyone help an exhausted student out?

[Pete]

Very breifly they were both ways to preserve leftover foods to be served cold the next day. They kept air from reaching the food extending its life for a few hours or a day or two, but it was meant to be consumed relatively soon. Chefs in medivel times would also use these to create fanciful works of art out of food. The nobles would try to outdo each other with their exdorinary works: from roasted peacocks with all their feathers replaced to make it look alive, to sewing to animals together (pig and rooster) to make mythological animals, to lifesized statues to knights riding horses made of marzipan.