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Mock Brawn

A meat jelly made from cow heels, capers, gherkins, and vinegar, set in a mold and served chilled.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Capers and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,453 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Mock Brawn

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the heels

  1. Boil the cow heels in plenty of water until very tender.

  2. Remove the heels and shred them into long pieces.

Make the jelly

  1. Place the shredded heels in a stewpan and cover with good stock.

  2. Let them stew for a little while.

  3. Stir in the chopped capers, gherkins, and vinegar.

  4. Pour the mixture into a mold of your choice, preferably round or oval.

Set and serve

  1. Once cooled, remove from the mold and serve.

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. Capers + vinegartop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,453 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

Cow heels
Provide collagen that dissolves into gelatin, giving the brawn its jellied set when cooled.
Stock
Adds savoury depth and extra liquid that helps the stewed heels set into a firm jelly.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that sharpens the flavour and balances the richness of the meat.
Capers
Contribute briny, sharp flavour that cuts through the richness of the meat.
Gherkins
Add tangy, crunchy pieces and acidity that brighten the jellied meat.

The step that matters

Shredding and stewing the heels until very tender. Collagen in the heels only breaks down into gelatin with long, thorough cooking. If the heels are undercooked, the jelly will be weak and fail to set firmly when cooled.

“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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