Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Wine Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the feet
Chop each calf's foot into four pieces.
Wash the pieces in a basin of cold water.
Place the pieces in a stew-pan and cover with cold water.
Boil the water, then remove the stew-pan and let it sit on a table.
Remove the pieces with a fork and wash them in cold water again.
Empty the stew-pan and wash it well.
Make the stock
Put the pieces back in the stew-pan with 5 pints of cold water.
Boil the mixture gently for 5 hours, skimming often.
Strain and set
Strain the liquid through a fine sieve into a basin.
Let the basin sit in a cool place until the stock is cold and jelly-like.
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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Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Sherry + brandytop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,209 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Lemon + cinnamontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,950 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Lemon + clovetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,150 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Calves' feet
- Their collagen releases gelatin into the water, which is what makes the stock set into jelly.
- Loaf sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the sharpness of the lemons and wine.
- Lemons
- Add acidity and fresh citrus aroma that brighten the flavour of the jelly.
- Sherry
- Adds wine flavour and depth to the finished jelly.
- Brandy
- Adds warmth and aroma to the finished jelly.
The step that matters
Keep the stock at a gentle simmer and skim it often. A hard rolling boil makes the stock cloudy and breaks up the scum that forms on top, so skimming keeps the jelly clear. Slow, steady heat also lets the gelatin from the feet dissolve fully so the stock sets firm and clear as it cools.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cinnamon, clove, sherry, brandy):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Applefits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cinnamon, clove, sherry, brandy. 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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