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Gelee D’ Essence De Menthe —

A mint gelée made by infusing mint and lemon peel in boiling syrup, then adding peppermint essence, kirchwasser, and clarified isinglass.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Lemon and peppermint match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,583 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Gelee D’ Essence De Menthe —

Ingredients

Directions

Make the infusion

  1. Add the mint and lemon peel to the boiling syrup.

  2. Cover the infusion and let it cool to lukewarm.

Finish and strain

  1. Dissolve the essence of peppermint in warm water and add it to the infusion.

  2. Stir in the kirchwasser.

  3. Add the clarified isinglass and strain through a bag if necessary.

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. Lemon + pepperminttop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,583 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Mint + lemontop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,998 recipes

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

  3. Mint + pepperminttop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together77 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Syrup + lemontop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,235 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Syrup + pepperminttop 27% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together218 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Isinglass
Sets the liquid into a jelly as it cools, giving the gelée its firm texture.
Syrup
Provides sweetness and body, and helps the jelly set with a smooth texture.
Fresh mint
Infuses the liquid with its aroma and flavour during the steeping.
Lemon peel
Adds bright aromatic oils and a hint of acidity to balance the sweetness.
Kirchwasser
Adds a distinct cherry-brandy aroma and warmth to the finished gelée.

The step that matters

Add the isinglass to a lukewarm infusion. Isinglass sets as it cools, so adding it while the liquid is still very hot can weaken its gelling power. Letting the infusion cool to lukewarm first helps it set firmly and clearly.

Swap the mint

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (syrup, lemon, peppermint):

  1. Cardamomfits better
  2. Gingerfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Mintthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against syrup, lemon, peppermint. 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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