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Chicken Jelly

A clear gelatinous broth made from chicken, water, hough, peppercorns, celery, and egg, set with gelatin.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Chicken and celery are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,375 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Chicken Jelly

Ingredients

Directions

Make the stock

  1. In a large pot, combine the chicken pieces, water, hough, peppercorns, and celery.

  2. Bring to a boil, skim thoroughly, and then reduce to a simmer for 4 hours.

  3. If the water reduces, add another pint and season with salt.

  4. Add the white and shell of the egg and let it stand for 10 minutes.

  5. Strain the mixture through a wire sieve.

Set the jelly

  1. Soak the gelatine in a little cold water for 20 minutes, then add it to the strained liquid.

  2. Heat slowly until it reaches boiling point, then remove from heat and skim well.

  3. Pour into glasses and allow to cool.

  4. If storing for more than 48 hours, cover with clarified butter and jam paper.

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. Chicken + celerytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,375 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Chicken + eggtop 30% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,991 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).

  3. Celery + eggtop 34% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together6,334 recipes

    Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Chicken
Releases flavour and gelatin-rich body into the water during the long simmer.
Egg white
Its proteins coagulate and trap cloudy particles, clarifying the strained liquid.
Gelatine
Sets the strained liquid into a firm jelly as it cools.
Hough
Adds body and savoury depth to the stock during simmering.

The step that matters

Heat slowly until it reaches boiling point after adding the gelatine. Gelatine must fully dissolve without overheating; once the liquid is set and cooled, a gentle, controlled heat keeps it clear and prevents the gel from weakening or clouding.

Swap the celery

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (chicken, egg):

  1. Tarragonfits better
  2. Garlicfits better
  3. Parsleyfits better
  4. Celerythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against chicken, 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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