Why it works: Rabbit and ham work together. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 273 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓
Savoury Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Place the meat and ham or bacon in a pot.
Add the mixed herbs and cow heels or shanks for consistency.
Cover with water and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer until the meat is tender and the jelly forms.
Strain the mixture and let it cool to set.
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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Rabbit + hamtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together273 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Mutton + hamtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together430 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Veal + muttontop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,394 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-nonanal (fatty, waxy).
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Veal + hamtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,264 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Mutton + rabbittop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together151 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-pentylpyridine (fat).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Veal
- Provides collagen-rich connective tissue that dissolves into gelatin during long simmering.
- Mutton
- Adds collagen and meaty flavour that dissolves into the stock to help it set.
- Cow heels or shanks
- Supply collagen, which converts to gelatin and gives the finished jelly its firm body.
- Ham or bacon
- Adds savory, salty flavour to the stock.
The step that matters
Simmer gently until the jelly forms. A rolling boil can make the stock cloudy and greasy, while slow, gentle simmering slowly breaks collagen into gelatin, which is what lets the liquid set firm once cooled.
“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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