Why it works: Rose and brandy work together. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 560 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
To Prepare Rennet
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the rennet
Remove the stomach from the calf immediately after it is killed and hang it in a dry, cool place for 4 to 5 days.
Turn the stomach inside out and carefully remove all the curd by hand.
Mix saltpetre with the necessary amount of coarse sea salt. Fill the stomach with this mixture.
Place the stomach in a small stone pot. Add vinegar to the pot. Sprinkle a handful of salt on top.
Cover the pot tightly. Store it for use without washing the stomach.
Make the liquid rennet
After 6 to 8 weeks, cut a piece of the rennet about 4 to 5 inches long.
Place it in a vessel that holds about 1.5 pints. Add 5 cups of cold water and ⅔ cup of rose brandy to the vessel.
Seal the vessel tightly. Shake it before use.
Use 1 tablespoon for 1 quart of milk.
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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Rose + brandytop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together560 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Brandy + vinegartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together344 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Rose + vinegartop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together96 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Calf stomach
- Contains the enzymes that cause milk to set into curd.
- Saltpetre
- Inhibits spoilage bacteria while the stomach cures.
- Rose brandy
- Extracts and preserves the enzymes in the liquid rennet.
The step that matters
Seal and shake the rennet before use. Shaking mixes the enzyme-rich liquid evenly, so a measured tablespoon gives consistent setting strength. Tight sealing limits contamination during the weeks of storage.
“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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