Why it works: Lemon and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,950 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Jellies and Jams
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the feet
Wash the calves' feet well.
Slit the calves' feet in the middle.
Remove the fat from the calves' feet.
Wash the calves' feet again in lukewarm water.
Make the stock
Place the feet in a stewpan and cover with water.
Bring to a boil.
Skim the surface.
Let simmer for 6-7 hours until reduced to about 2 quarts.
Strain the liquid through a sieve and let it cool.
Remove all fat and oily substance.
Clarify and strain the jelly
In a stewpan, combine the liquid with sugar, lemon peel, lemon juice, egg whites and shells, white wine, and cinnamon.
Whisk until boiling.
Simmer for 15 minutes.
Strain through a jelly bag, returning the first strained liquid until clear.
If it's cold, keep the jelly bag near a fire or lighted charcoal.
Ensure the jelly bag is clean to avoid tainting the jelly.
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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Lemon + cinnamontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,950 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Lemon + white winetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,832 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Lemon + eggtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- Calves' feet
- Supply gelatin, which sets the liquid into a firm jelly as it cools.
- Egg whites and shells
- Collect cloudy particles during boiling so the jelly becomes clear when strained.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps give the set jelly its body.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity and bright flavour that balances the sweetness.
The step that matters
Simmer for 6-7 hours until reduced to about 2 quarts. Long simmering extracts gelatin from the bones and connective tissue. Reducing the liquid concentrates it so it will set firmly once cooled.
Swap the cinnamon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, lemon, egg, white wine):
- Tarragonfits about as well
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Parsleyfits about as well
- Cinnamonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, lemon, egg, white wine. 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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