From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishaspicas‧pic /ˈæspɪk/ noun [uncountable] 1 DFFa clear brownish jelly in which cold meat is sometimes served2 → preserve something in aspic
Examples from the Corpus
aspic• Evocative, yes, but don't think that today's Ireland is set in some quaint emerald aspic.• By the mid-1990s Northern Ireland had the feeling of a country in aspic.• He had time to think, time to become an old man in aspic, in sculptured soap, quaint and white.• A more elegant and courtly preparation was quail in aspic, often served with foie gras or truMes.• His head is perfect, tanned the shade of aspic, kept beautiful by concentration.• Pour in the cool saffron aspic as you go, layer by layer.• He had large dark eyes, like pears set in port wine aspic, deep pools in a thin, delicate face.Origin aspic (1700-1800) French “asp (= small snake)”; perhaps because the jelly was thought to look like a snake's skin 