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Dessert

Burlington Whimsey

A gelatin dessert made from calf's head, ham, gravy, lemon rind, herbs, and spices, set in tongue-lined molds.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓

Burlington Whimsey

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the calf's head

  1. Remove any tough gelatinous parts from the calf's head.

  2. Mince the removed parts.

  3. Combine the minced gelatinous parts with 1 pint of gravy.

  4. Simmer the mixture for 10-15 minutes.

  5. Mince enough of the calf's head to make 1 pound after trimming.

Make the filling

  1. Mix the minced calf's head with chopped ham, lemon rind, parsley, thyme, mace, nutmeg, salt, and cayenne.

  2. Stir the mixture well.

  3. Add ½ pint more of gravy.

  4. Simmer the combined mixture for 4-5 minutes.

Mould and serve

  1. Pour the mixture into molds lined with slices of tongue.

  2. Let it cool completely before unmolding.

  3. Garnish with dry parsley before serving.

  4. Serve with salad sauce if desired.

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. Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  2. Lemon + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,037 recipes

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

  3. Lemon + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,973 recipes

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

  4. Parsley + nutmegtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,062 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Thyme + nutmegtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,907 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Calf's head
Supplies the gelatinous meat and connective tissue that set the dessert as it cools.
Gravy
Provides the liquid and savoury body that the gelatin sets within.
Lean boiled ham
Adds savoury, meaty flavour and chewy texture to the set mixture.
Lemon rind
Adds aromatic citrus oils that brighten the rich, savoury mixture.

The step that matters

Let it cool completely before unmolding. The gelatin from the calf's head sets only as the mixture chills. Unmolding too early can cause it to slump or tear, so it needs to firm fully first.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, lemon, parsley, thyme, nutmeg):

  1. Marjoramfits better
  2. Winter savoryfits better
  3. Tarragonfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, lemon, parsley, thyme, nutmeg. 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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