Why it works: Lemon and sherry are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,273 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
Calves’ Feet Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the stock
Slit the calves' feet in two and remove the fat between the claws.
Wash the feet in lukewarm water.
Place the feet in a large stew-pan and cover with water.
Bring to a boil, skim, and simmer gently for 6-7 hours until reduced to about 2 quarts.
Strain the liquid through a sieve and skim off any oily substance.
Let the liquid cool overnight.
Remove the oily layer with kitchen paper.
Make and set the jelly
Melt the strained liquid in a stew-pan with sugar, lemon peel, lemon juice, egg whites and shells, and sherry or madeira.
Whisk until boiling, then simmer for 15 minutes.
Strain through a jelly bag until clear.
Pour the jelly into molds.
Add isinglass when adding the wine for a firmer jelly.
Refrigerate until firm.
If the jelly is warm, add ice to help it set.
Flavor with fruit juices or spices as desired.
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 + sherrytop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,273 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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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).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + sherrytop 22% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,141 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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
- Their gelatin-rich connective tissue dissolves into the liquid and gives the jelly its body.
- Egg whites and shells
- As they heat, they trap impurities and cloud particles, which clarifies the jelly to a clear finish.
- Lump sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the sharpness of the lemon juice.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity and bright flavor that cuts the richness of the stock.
- Sherry or madeira
- Adds aroma and depth of flavor to the finished jelly.
The step that matters
Skimming and clarifying the liquid. Fat and fine particles left in the stock make the jelly cloudy and greasy. Removing the oily layer after cooling and clarifying with egg whites before straining gives a clear, clean set.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, sherry):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Pineapplefits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, sherry. 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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