Skip to main content
Main

Aspic

Aspic is a gelatinous dish made from veal, eggs, wine, and lemon juice.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: White wine and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,832 recipes. Both carry myrcene, which smells balsamic, herbaceous. The science ↓

Aspic

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Boil a small amount of water.

  2. Pour the hot water over the aspic to remove impurities.

  3. Absorb the moisture with a clean cloth.

Make the clarified jelly

  1. Bring the aspic to a boil in a large saucepan.

  2. Reduce the heat.

  3. Let the aspic simmer for 10 minutes.

  4. Skim off any scum.

  5. Whisk together the egg whites, whole eggs, veal, wine, and a little spring water until well mixed.

  6. Add the egg mixture to the aspic.

  7. Whisk over medium heat until the eggs begin to coagulate.

  8. Stir in the lemon juice mixed with a little spring water.

  9. Cover the saucepan.

  10. Let it simmer gently for about 30 minutes.

Strain and set

  1. Strain the mixture through a flannel jelly bag until clear.

  2. Pour the strained mixture into deep pans.

  3. Refrigerate until firm.

  4. Place a small amount in a mold on ice to test the strength.

  5. Mix the rest into the mold.

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. White wine + lemontop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,832 recipes

    Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).

  2. Veal + lemontop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,580 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  3. Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together44,316 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).

  4. Veal + white winetop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together666 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

  5. Veal + eggtop 28% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,845 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Egg and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 44,316 recipes: they 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

Veal
Its natural gelatin and protein give the aspic body so it sets firm when chilled.
Egg whites
As they coagulate they trap cloudy particles, clarifying the jelly so it becomes clear.
White wine
Adds acidity and flavor to the jelly.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens flavor and helps the egg clarification work.

The step that matters

Keep the simmer gentle once the egg mixture goes in. Vigorous boiling breaks up the coagulated egg raft and clouds the jelly, so it cannot be strained clear. Gentle heat lets the raft form and trap impurities.

“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.

More aspic recipes

Chicken 77Meat 26Tomato 25Jelly 16Lobster 14Beef 10 See all 167 →

You might also like

Lemon SauceLemon Sauce236 recipesVeal PattiesVeal Patties50 recipesBeef, Mutton, or Veal BrothBeef, Mutton, or Veal Broth6 recipesTomato SoupTomato Soup526 recipes