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Pies, Meat, Jelly for

A gelatinous stock made from veal, ham, vegetables, and seasonings, used as a filling for pies.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 20 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓

Pies, Meat, Jelly for

Ingredients

Directions

Make the stock

  1. Break up the veal and place it in a stewpan with the ham or raw lean ham.

  2. Pour in the cold water and add the carrot, onion, bay leaf, celery, parsley, thyme, mace, cloves, lemon rind, salt, cayenne, sugar, and peppercorns.

  3. Cover the stewpan and bring to a boil, skimming off any scum that rises.

  4. Reduce heat and simmer gently for 5 hours.

Clarify and set

  1. Strain the liquid through a jelly bag and let it cool until stiff.

  2. Remove the fat by scraping it off and pouring hot water over the surface, then wipe with a dry napkin.

  3. If the jelly is not clear, dissolve it gently and mix in the whisked egg white, crushed eggshell, tarragon vinegar, and sherry.

  4. Heat the mixture until it begins to boil, then simmer for 15 minutes without stirring.

  5. Strain again through a jelly bag and let cool before use.

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. Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  2. Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,053 recipes

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

  3. Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  4. Celery + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,810 recipes

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

  5. Carrot + thymetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

What each ingredient does

Knuckle of veal
Breaks down during long simmering to give the stock body and a jelly-like set when cooled.
Ham
Adds savory depth to the stock, flavoring the jelly as it simmers.
Egg white
Binds fine particles as it coagulates, clarifying the jelly when strained.
Sherry
Adds aroma and a touch of acidity and sweetness to the finished jelly.

The step that matters

Simmer gently and do not stir during clarifying. A rolling boil emulsifies fat and breaks up the egg white raft, leaving the jelly cloudy. Gentle simmering keeps the stock clear.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, ham, carrot, onion, celery, parsley, thyme):

  1. Marjoramfits better
  2. Winter savoryfits better
  3. Tarragonfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, ham, carrot, onion, celery, parsley, thyme. 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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