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Burlington Whimsey

A gelatin made from calf head, simmered with gravy, ham, herbs, and lemon rind, set in molds, served chilled.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 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 ↓

Burlington Whimsey

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the head

  1. Remove any tough gelatinous parts from the calf's head and mince them.

  2. Mince additional parts of the head to make up 1 lb after trimming.

Make the aspic

  1. Combine the minced gelatinous part with 1 pint of gravy and simmer gently for 10-15 minutes.

  2. Add the minced head, chopped ham, lemon rind, parsley, thyme, mace, nutmeg, salt, and cayenne to the simmering mixture.

  3. Stir well and add ½ pint more of gravy.

  4. Boil softly for 4-5 minutes, then pour into molds lined with slices of tongue.

Set and serve

  1. Let it cool completely until firm, then unmold and garnish with dry parsley.

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. Lemon + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,037 recipes

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

  3. Lemon + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,973 recipes

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

  4. Parsley + nutmegtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,062 recipes

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

  5. Thyme + nutmegtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,907 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Calf's head
Provides the minced meat and gelatinous parts that give the aspic its body and bulk.
Gravy
Supplies the liquid base and savoury flavour that the set aspic is built on.
Lemon rind
Adds bright aromatic oils that lift the rich meat flavour.
Boiled ham
Contributes savoury, meaty flavour to the filling.

The step that matters

Let it cool completely until firm. The aspic sets because collagen gelatine from the head firms as it cools. Unmolding too early, before it is fully chilled and set, can make it collapse or tear.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, lemon, parsley, thyme, nutmeg):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, lemon, parsley, thyme, nutmeg. 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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