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Aspic Jelly

Aspic jelly is a savory gelatin made from simmered calf's feet, veal, ham, poultry trimmings, vegetables, stock, and egg whites, set with tarragon vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and tarragon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,399 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Aspic Jelly

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the ham into slices and lay them in the bottom of a stew pan.

  2. Chop the calf's feet and veal into small pieces and add them to the ham.

  3. Add the poultry trimmings, vegetables, bouquet garni, and seasoning.

Make the stock

  1. Fill the stew pan with stock and let it simmer gently for 4 hours, removing any scum that rises.

  2. Strain the liquid through a fine sieve into a basin and let it cool to remove any fat.

Clarify and finish

  1. Put the jelly into a clean stew pan, add the browning, and melt the jelly.

  2. Whisk in the whites and shells of the eggs and the tarragon vinegar.

  3. Bring to a boil while whisking continuously, then reduce heat and simmer.

  4. Strain again if not clear.

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. Pepper + tarragontop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,555 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Carrot + tarragontop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together463 recipes

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

  4. Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  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

Calf's feet
Release gelatin, which sets the stock into a firm jelly.
Egg whites and shells
Bind and attract impurities so the stock clears when simmered and strained.
Veal knuckle
Adds body and gelatin, giving the finished aspic richer texture and flavor.
Tarragon vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens flavor and helps the egg clarification work.

The step that matters

Bring to a boil while whisking continuously. Whisking keeps the egg whites dispersed so they can coagulate and trap cloudiness. Letting the mixture boil undisturbed can cause the egg to clump and cloud the jelly, so it should be brought up slowly and then simmered gently.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, ham, carrot, pepper, egg, tarragon, vinegar):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Mustardfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, ham, carrot, pepper, egg, tarragon, vinegar. 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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