Why it works: Tarragon and wine work together. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 521 recipes. Both carry 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, which smells sweet, anise. The science ↓
Aspic Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Make the aspic
Boil the consommé with tarragon and tarragon vinegar or lemon juice until reduced to one quart.
Remove from heat and stir in wine or sherry.
Dissolve the gelatin in warm water and add to the mixture.
Strain the mixture and pour into a mold or shallow pan.
Set and serve
Once cold, cut into cubes and use as a garnish.
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 + winetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together521 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Clear consommé
- Forms the clear, savoury liquid that becomes the set aspic.
- Granulated gelatine
- Sets the liquid into a firm, wobbly jelly as it cools.
- Wine or sherry
- Adds aroma and a little acidity and depth to the flavour.
The step that matters
Dissolve the gelatin fully before adding it. Gelatine must dissolve completely in warm liquid to set evenly; undissolved granules leave gritty spots and weak patches in the jelly.
“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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