Why it works: Tarragon and chervil match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 824 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Aspic Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Warm the aspic stock until it is liquid.
Add tarragon vinegar, chopped tarragon, chervil, salt, sherry, and peppercorns.
Make the aspic
Beat the eggs in a bowl, checking for any off smells as you crack each one.
Combine the egg mixture with the aspic stock and stir well.
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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Tarragon + cherviltop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together824 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Tarragon + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,547 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Vinegar + sherrytop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together660 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
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Vinegar + cherviltop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together561 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Tarragon + sherrytop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together158 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Egg whites bind with the stock and help clarify it as the mixture is heated.
- Aspic stock
- Gelatin in the stock sets as it cools, giving the aspic its firm, jelly-like body.
- Tarragon vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavour of the clear jelly.
The step that matters
Checking each egg for off smells. A spoiled egg can ruin the whole batch of aspic, so each egg should be cracked and checked on its own before it is added to the bowl with the others.
“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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