Why it works: White wine and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,832 recipes. Both carry myrcene, which smells balsamic, herbaceous. The science ↓
Aspic
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the clarifying mixture
Boil the aspic in a large stewpan, skimming off the scum for 10 minutes.
Allow it to cool partially.
In another stewpan, whisk together the egg whites, whole eggs, veal, game or fowl, wine, and spring water until well mixed.
Clarify and set
Add this mixture to the aspic and whisk over heat until the eggs begin to coagulate.
Stir in the lemon juice mixed with a little spring water.
Cover the stewpan and simmer gently for about 30 minutes with charcoal embers on top.
Pour the mixture through a jelly bag to clarify.
Allow the aspic to run into a basin until fully drained.
Pour the clarified aspic into deep pans and refrigerate until firm.
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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White wine + lemontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,832 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
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Veal + lemontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Veal + white winetop 23% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together666 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).
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Veal + eggtop 28% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,845 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 44,316 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
- Egg whites
- Coagulate as they heat, trapping impurities so the aspic clears.
- Whole eggs
- Add protein that coagulates during heating, helping to clarify the liquid.
- Veal
- Adds protein and body that bind to impurities during clarifying.
- White wine
- Adds acidity and flavour to the liquid base.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity and brightness, balancing the richness of the stock.
The step that matters
Letting the egg mixture coagulate gently. Egg proteins must set slowly as they rise through the hot liquid so they catch impurities and form a clear raft. Vigorous boiling breaks up the raft, leaving the aspic cloudy.
“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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