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Jellied Meat

A chilled gelatin set of boiled chicken pieces in a spiced stock.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Jellied Meat

Ingredients

Directions

Make the stock

  1. Boil the chicken with salt and water until the meat drops from the bones.

  2. Skim the broth well.

  3. Add onions, cloves, white peppers, bay leaves, mace, and allspice.

  4. Strain the stock.

  5. Let the stock cool.

  6. Remove the fat.

Set the jelly

  1. Cut the chicken into small pieces.

  2. Bring the jelly to a boil.

  3. Add vinegar and lemon just before pouring.

  4. Place the meat in a dish or molds.

  5. Pour the hot jelly over it.

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 + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Allspice + lemontop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,083 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  4. Mace + allspicetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  5. Chicken + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Chickens or teal
Provide the meat that is set into the jelly.
Gelatine
Sets the strained stock into a firm, sliceable jelly around the meat.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the flavor of the rich, gelatinous stock.
Lemon
Adds acidity and fresh citrus aroma to the jelly.
Onions
Add savory sweetness and aroma to the stock as it simmers.

The step that matters

Add vinegar and lemon just before pouring. Acid can weaken gelatine's setting power if it is added too early or heated for long, so adding it at the last moment keeps the jelly firm while still tasting bright.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, onion, clove, mace, allspice, vinegar, lemon):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Marjoramfits better
  3. Gingerfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, onion, clove, mace, allspice, vinegar, lemon. 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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