Why it works: Sugar and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and 53,530 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Sweet Dishes, or Entremets.
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the feet
Scrape hair from calf's feet with a blunt-edged knife.
Remove the hoofs by striking them against the edge of a table or sink, holding the leg-bone.
Wash the feet delicately clean.
Divide the feet at the joint, split the claws, and remove the fat between them.
Make the stock
If the feet are large, add one gallon of cold water; for moderate or small feet use a pint to a quart less.
Boil gently until the flesh has separated from the bones and the liquor is reduced nearly or quite half.
Strain the stock, let it stand until cold, and remove any fat from the top before using.
Clarify the stock
Break up a quart of the stock.
In a clean stewpan, combine the stock with the whites of five large or six small eggs, two ounces of sugar, and the strained juice of a small lemon.
Place over a gentle fire; do not stir after scum begins to form.
Boil for five to six minutes; if the liquid is clear, turn it into a jelly-bag and pass it through a second time if it is not perfectly transparent.
Optional blanc-mange
(Optional) For blanc-mange, omit the lemon juice, mix the clarified stock with an equal proportion of cream, usual flavouring, and weight of sugar; or pour the boiling stock very gradually to finely pounded almonds and express as directed for Quince Blan-mange, allowing six to eight ounces to the pint.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Sugar + lemontop 10% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together53,530 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and lemon share little aroma chemistry, yet 53,530 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg whites (in the method)
- Coagulate as they heat, trapping particles and clarifying the stock into a clear liquid.
- Calf's feet (in the method)
- Release gelatin into the water as they simmer, giving the stock its jelly-like body.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps balance the sharpness of the lemon juice.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that helps the egg whites set and brightens the flavour of the stock.
The step that matters
Do not stir after scum begins to form. Stirring breaks up the coagulating egg white raft and disperses particles through the liquid, so the stock stays cloudy instead of clear.
“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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