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Aspic, Oe Savouey Jelly

A savory aspic made with herbs, lemon, eggs, and Marsala, simmered for hours and set in molds.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Laurel and thyme are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,444 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Aspic, Oe Savouey Jelly

Ingredients

Directions

Make the jelly

  1. Combine bay leaves, laurel leaf, thyme, lemon rind, tarragon, salt, sugar, and cold water in a large pot.

  2. Bring to a boil, then simmer gently for 7 hours or longer.

  3. Strain into an uncovered earthen pan and let it cool overnight.

Clarify

  1. Remove all fat and wipe the jelly surface with a soft cloth dampened with hot water.

  2. Turn out the jelly and cut off any sediment.

  3. In a bright saucepan, combine the jelly with the lemon rind and strained lemon juice.

  4. When nearly boiling, whisk in the beaten egg whites mixed with cold water.

  5. Boil rapidly while whisking for 20 minutes, then simmer gently for another 20 minutes.

Strain and set

  1. Strain through a jelly bag; if not clear, strain again.

  2. Pour into earthen molds or pie dishes and let set before serving.

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. Laurel + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,444 recipes

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

  2. Thyme + tarragontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together528 recipes

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

  3. Thyme + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,973 recipes

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

  4. Lemon + tarragontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,137 recipes

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

  5. Laurel + tarragontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together280 recipes

    Shared aroma: cinnamyl acetate (sweet aromatic, cinnamon).

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

What each ingredient does

Egg whites
As they cook they gather cloudy impurities into a raft that clears the jelly when strained.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the flavour of the clarified jelly.
Sugar
Moist sugar, slightly burnt, adds a deeper colour and caramel flavour to the jelly.

The step that matters

Boiling the egg-white clarification. As the whites heat, they coagulate and trap cloudiness and sediment in a raft. Whisking vigorously during the rapid boil helps the whites mix through the jelly, then gentle simmering lets the raft form undisturbed. Rough stirring while simmering can break the raft and leave the jelly cloudy.

Swap the tarragon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (laurel, thyme, lemon, sugar, egg):

  1. Marjoramfits better
  2. Parsleyfits better
  3. Rosemaryfits about as well
  4. Tarragonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against laurel, thyme, lemon, sugar, egg. 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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