preserved in aspic
Unchanged, especially if contrary to expectation.
He described the service as ‘preserved in aspic, speaking with the plummy tones of a Britain that scarcely existed any longer’.
aspic
UK /ˈæspɪk/ US /ˈæspɪk/
noun 4adj 1
Definitions
noun
1
A meat or fish jelly.
“Put a little aspic in the mould, so as to cover the bottom ···“
2
A dish in which ingredients are set into a gelatine, jelly-like substance made from a meat stock or consommé.
"I don't know what you mean, Mr. Wynand," whispered Keating. His eyes fixed upon the tomato aspic on his salad plate; it was soft and shivering; it made him sick.
3
An asp, a small venomous snake of Egypt.
This is an aspic's trail: and these fig-leaves / Have slime upon them, such as the aspic leaves.
(With that she tore her robe apart, and half / The polished argent of her breast to sight / Laid bare. Thereto she pointed with a laugh, / Showing the aspic's bite. )
4
A light cannon firing a two-pound ball.
adj
1
Aspish; relating to an asp, a small venomous snake of Egypt.
Timeless mother, / How is it that your aspic nipples / For once vent honey?
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