Why it works: Egg and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 44,316 recipes. Both carry (e,e)-2,4-decadienal, which smells fatty, deep fried. The science ↓
Clarification De LA Gélatine
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the broth
Bring the broth to a boil, then remove from heat.
Drain the rinds, wash them, and return them to a clean pot.
Cover them with cold water and bring to a boil again, skimming off any foam.
Once boiling, reduce heat to a simmer until the rinds are cooked.
Dissolve the gelatin
Soak the gelatin in cold water to soften, then drain and place it in a saucepan.
Add enough water to cover the gelatin and heat over moderate heat, stirring until dissolved.
Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
Clarify and filter
Whip the egg whites until frothy, then add cold water and citric acid or lemon juice.
Pour the egg mixture into the gelatin and heat gently, whisking to foam it up.
Once it reaches a boil, remove from heat and cover with hot ashes for 15 minutes without stirring.
When clear, pour the liquid through a filter to collect the clarified gelatin.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Lemon + gelatintop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,215 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-pinene (pine, resin).
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Egg + gelatintop 28% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,449 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Egg and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 44,316 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Broth
- Forms the liquid base that the gelatin is made from and later clarified.
- Egg whites
- As they heat and set, they trap cloudy particles so they can be filtered out, leaving clear liquid.
- Gelatin
- Provides the setting power that gives the finished liquid its ability to gel when cooled.
- Citric acid or lemon juice
- Acidity helps the egg whites coagulate and bind impurities during clarification.
The step that matters
Heating the egg mixture without stirring. Whisking only while the mixture heats gently lets the egg whites foam and set into a raft that traps cloudy particles. Stirring after the boil breaks the raft and clouds the liquid again, so it must stay undisturbed while resting.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, gelatin):
- Vanillafits better
- Lemonthe original
- Raisinfits about as well
- Coconutfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, gelatin. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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