Why it works: Tarragon and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,547 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Aspic Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Make the stock
Combine the ox-foot, bacon bone, raw meat scraps, young fowl, and mixed vegetables in a stew-pan.
Add 1 cup of cold water and cover the pan.
Heat while shaking occasionally.
Once the meat begins to color, add more water to cover the contents completely.
Stir in 1 teaspoon of caramel.
Let the mixture simmer gently for 3 hours.
Strain the liquid into a bowl and let it cool.
Skim off the fat.
Clarify and set
Add 1 teaspoon of sugar and 1 tablespoon of tarragon vinegar.
Clarify the mixture by straining it through a clean cloth to produce a clear liquid.
Refrigerate until 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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Tarragon + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,547 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Ham + meattop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,095 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Ham + vinegartop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together737 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-methylbutanol (malty, whiskey).
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Meat + tarragontop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together184 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ox-foot
- Releases gelatin into the liquid, which sets it into a firm jelly when chilled.
- Young fowl
- Adds meat flavor and some gelatin to the stock as it simmers.
- Bacon bone
- Adds smoky, savory depth to the stock.
- Caramel
- Adds color to the stock, deepening its amber tone.
- Tarragon vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavor of the finished jelly.
The step that matters
Skim off the fat after cooling. Fat left in the stock stays liquid or floats on top, which clouds the jelly and dulls its clarity once set.
Swap the tarragon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, meat, sugar, vinegar):
- Clovefits about as well
- Cinnamonfits about as well
- Allspicefits about as well
- Tarragonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against ham, meat, sugar, vinegar. 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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