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Quick Aspic

A gelatinous savory broth set with vegetables, onion, bay leaf, cloves, and beef extract.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Mary Ronald · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 17 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Quick Aspic

Ingredients

Directions

Make the stock

  1. Put into a saucepan one and a half cupfuls of cold water, a tablespoonful each of chopped carrot and celery, a slice of onion, a sprig of parsley, one bay leaf, and three cloves; add also one teaspoonful of beef extract (obtained in jars) dissolved in one cupful of hot water.

  2. Cover, and let simmer for half an hour.

Add the gelatine

  1. Then add one half box of Cox's gelatine, which has been soaked in one half cupful of cold water for one hour.

  2. Stir until the gelatine is dissolved.

  3. Season with salt and pepper.

  4. Add a tablespoonful of sherry to improve the flavor.

  5. If a deeper color is wanted, add a few drops of kitchen bouquet or caramel.

Strain and set

  1. Strain through a double cloth.

  2. If it is for molding, it can be used at once, as there is no grease to be removed.

  3. If for garnishing, turn it into a shallow pan to set.

  4. It can be stamped or cut into fancy shapes more easily if cooled in layers of the right thickness.

  5. Gelatine added to a good, clear consomme will give the same results.

  6. Observe always the proportion of one box, or one and a half ounces, of gelatine to one and a quarter quarts (five cupfuls) of liquor.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

333Calories
28 gProtein
16 gFat
14 gCarbs

Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Mary Ronald. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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. See the original page.

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. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  3. Clove + parsleytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,768 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  4. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Gelatine
Sets the strained liquid into a firm, sliceable or moldable jelly as it cools.
Beef extract
Adds concentrated meaty savour and colour to the clear liquid.
Sherry
Adds aroma and flavour to the finished aspic.

The step that matters

Dissolve the gelatine fully before straining. Gelatine that is not completely dissolved will not set evenly and leaves grainy or cloudy spots. Stirring until clear ensures the gelatine is evenly distributed, so the aspic sets firm and uniform when chilled.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, sherry, clove, parsley, pepper):

  1. Carrotfits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Shallotfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, sherry, clove, parsley, pepper. 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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