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Aspic or Savoury Jelly

Aspic is a savory gelatin made from stock, eggs, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Lemon and tarragon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,137 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Aspic or Savoury Jelly

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Prepare all ingredients and ensure vegetables are clean.

  2. Whisk the egg whites lightly with the shells.

Make the aspic

  1. Combine the egg mixture with the remaining ingredients in a well-tinned stewpan.

  2. Stir with a whisk over medium heat until it reaches a boil.

  3. Remove the whisk and let it simmer gently on the side of the stove for about 20 minutes.

  4. Strain the mixture through a clean cloth steeped in boiling water.

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. Lemon + tarragontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,137 recipes

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

  2. Tarragon + allspicetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together127 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Lemon + allspicetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,083 recipes

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

  4. Allspice + macetop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  5. Tarragon + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,547 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Gelatine
Sets the clear stock into a firm, wobbly jelly as it cools.
Egg whites and shells
Coagulate as they heat, trapping particles so the stock clears.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the flavour of the finished aspic.
Sherry
Adds aromatic depth and a mellow sweetness to the stock.
Tarragon vinegar
Contributes sharp acidity and a distinct herbal aroma.

The step that matters

Stirring until it boils, then simmering gently without stirring. Egg whites clarify the stock only if they rise and set in a gentle, undisturbed simmer. Stirring after the boil breaks up the clarifying raft and leaves the aspic cloudy.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lemon, sherry, tarragon, vinegar, wine, onion, allspice):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Marjoramfits better
  3. Parsleyfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lemon, sherry, tarragon, vinegar, wine, onion, allspice. 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.

More aspic recipes

Chicken 77Meat 26Tomato 25Jelly 16Lobster 14Beef 10 See all 167 →

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