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Jelly, Savoury, for Meat Pies

A clear gelatin made from beef, veal, poultry, and herbs, used as a filling for meat pies.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and carrot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,873 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓

Jelly, Savoury, for Meat Pies

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the meat into pieces and place it in a large pot with all ingredients except the water.

  2. Set the pot over low heat to draw out the juices from the meat.

Make the stock

  1. Once the gravy stops flowing, add the water and bring to a boil.

  2. Skim off any scum that forms on the surface.

  3. Cover the pot and let the stock simmer gently for 4 hours to ensure clarity.

Strain and clarify

  1. Strain the stock through a fine sieve or flannel bag.

  2. If the jelly is not clear when cold, clarify it with egg whites.

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. Clove + carrottop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,873 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  2. Clove + shallottop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,677 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

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

  4. Clove + macetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together8,400 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

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

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

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

What each ingredient does

Shin of beef
Breaks down into rich gelatin as it simmers, giving the stock body and setting power.
Calf's foot
Adds a large amount of collagen, which turns into gelatin and helps the jelly set firm.
Knuckle of veal
Contributes collagen and gelatin, adding body and helping the finished jelly set.
Onions stuck with cloves
Add savory sweetness and aroma to the stock as they cook slowly.
Carrots
Add natural sweetness and aroma that round out the savory flavour of the stock.
Shallots
Contribute mild onion aroma and depth to the stock.

The step that matters

Skimming the scum after the water comes to a boil. Scum and fine particles cloud the stock. Skimming early and simmering gently rather than boiling hard keeps the jelly clear, which is the whole point of this dish.

Swap the mace

The recipe marks mace as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, veal, onion, clove, carrot, shallot, ham):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Parsleyfits better
  3. Marjoramfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, veal, onion, clove, carrot, shallot, ham. 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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