Why it works: Tarragon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 548 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Prawns in Aspic
Ingredients
Directions
Make the aspic
Soak the gelatine in ½ cup of cold water, then pour 1 cup of boiling water over it and stir until dissolved.
Add 1 tablespoon of salt, 1 tablespoon of tarragon vinegar, the halved garlic clove, and the melted meat extract.
Soak the albumen in 2 teaspoons of water for 3 hours, whisk to a stiff froth, and stir into the aspic mixture.
Heat the aspic slowly to boiling, boil for 2 minutes, then let it stand for 2 minutes.
Strain the mixture through a jelly bag or fine napkin and let it cool.
Set and serve
Carefully open the tin of prawns and avoid breaking them.
Rinse small flat-bottomed moulds in cold water and leave them wet.
Fill each mould one-third full with aspic, add 3 prawns, and fill with more aspic.
Once the jelly is firm, turn out the moulds and arrange them on a silver dish.
Break up some remaining aspic with 2 silver forks and pile it in the center.
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 + clovetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together548 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Tarragon + vinegartop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,547 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Tarragon + garlictop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together884 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Clove + garlictop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,368 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
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Vinegar + garlictop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,115 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Gelatine
- Sets the liquid into a firm jelly when it cools.
- Albumen
- Whisked into a froth and then clarifies the aspic as it heats, collecting impurities.
- Meat extract
- Adds savoury depth of flavour to the clear jelly.
- Tarragon vinegar
- Adds a sharp acidity that brightens the flavour of the aspic.
- Prawns
- Main filling, set whole inside the clear jelly for appearance and flavour.
The step that matters
Clarifying the aspic with albumen. Heating the albumen mixture slowly to a boil lets the whisked egg white coagulate and trap cloudy particles. Boiling too fast or stirring can break the cloth-like layer, leaving the aspic cloudy, so it should be heated gently and strained carefully.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tarragon, vinegar, garlic, meat):
- Thymefits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Marjoramfits better
- Clovethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against tarragon, vinegar, garlic, meat. 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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