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To Claeify Meat Jelly

A method to clarify meat stock into a clear jelly using egg whites, vinegar, and sherry.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Tarragon and sherry work together. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 158 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

To Claeify Meat Jelly

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the stock

  1. Pour the stock into a basin and let it cool completely.

  2. Carefully remove all the fat from the cooled stock.

  3. Check the consistency by placing a small piece on ice; it should be stiffer than sweet jelly.

  4. If too stiff, add more broth; if too soft, reduce the stock over heat until thickened.

Clarify and set

  1. In a basin, whisk together the egg whites, water, vinegar, and sherry.

  2. Bring the stock to a boil, then quickly whisk in the egg mixture.

  3. Continue whisking for a few minutes until just below boiling.

  4. Remove from heat and taste for seasoning.

  5. Cover the pot and place it a little distance from the fire, adding red‑hot cinders on top for five minutes.

Strain and chill

  1. Tie a napkin over a jelly stand and pour the jelly through it into a basin below.

  2. Repeat pouring until the jelly runs clear, then transfer it to a mold or sauté pan and chill on ice.

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 + sherrytop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together158 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Egg + tarragontop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,789 recipes

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

  3. Meat + eggtop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,432 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Meat + sherrytop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together505 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).

  5. Meat + tarragontop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together184 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Stock
Provides the gelatin and flavour that set into the jelly.
Egg whites
Collect impurities as they coagulate, leaving the jelly clear.
Vinegar
Acidity helps the egg whites coagulate and brightens the flavour.
Sherry
Adds aroma and a mellow, rounded flavour to the jelly.

The step that matters

Whisking in the egg mixture. Adding the egg whites to boiling stock must be quick and thorough so they spread evenly. Once they coagulate they trap cloudy particles, which clarifies the jelly. Letting the stock boil hard or leaving clumps of egg would cloud it.

Swap the tarragon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, egg, sherry):

  1. Nutmegfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Parsleyfits about as well
  4. Tarragonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, egg, sherry. 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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