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Savory Jelly to Ornament Cold Meats

A savory gelatin made from stock, wine, and egg whites used to ornament cold meats.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Tarragon and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,547 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Savory Jelly to Ornament Cold Meats

Ingredients

Directions

Make the jelly

  1. Warm the stock, Tarragon vinegar, and white wine together in a pot.

  2. Soak the gelatine in cold water for 1 hour, then drain it.

  3. Stir the gelatine into the warm mixture along with the egg whites and crushed shells.

  4. Boil for 5 minutes without stirring until clear.

  5. Strain the mixture into a pan to create a jelly about ½ inch deep.

Set and cut

  1. Chill the jelly in the refrigerator until set.

  2. Cut the jelly into dice, chop it, or use a small cutter to create star shapes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Tarragon + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,547 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Tarragon + white winetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together409 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Vinegar + white winetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,776 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Tarragon + eggtop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,789 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).

  5. White wine + eggtop 32% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,662 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Stock
Provides the main savory flavor and liquid that sets into the jelly.
Gelatine
Sets the liquid into a firm jelly as it cools.
Egg whites
Bind with impurities as they heat, helping the stock turn clear.
White wine
Adds acidity and aroma to the savory liquid.
Tarragon vinegar
Adds bright acidity and a herbal aroma to the stock.

The step that matters

Boil for 5 minutes without stirring until clear. Stirring breaks up the egg white raft that forms as it heats, which traps cloudy particles and clarifies the stock. Stirring too early or too much leaves the jelly cloudy.

“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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