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Tomatoes in Aspic

Tomatoes in aspic is a chilled appetizer of sliced tomatoes layered with mayonnaise sauce and aspic jelly.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Tomato and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,469 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Tomatoes in Aspic

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the moulds

  1. Set a little aspic jelly in double moulds.

  2. Slice the tomatoes and place a slice in each mould.

Fill and set

  1. Pour a little mayonnaise sauce over the tomatoes and repeat until the moulds are full.

  2. Top with aspic jelly and let set.

Serve

  1. Turn out the aspic and garnish with chopped watercress.

  2. Pour the remaining mayonnaise sauce in the center.

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. Tomato + saucetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together5,469 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

Aspic jelly
Sets around the tomatoes to hold the shape and give a smooth, firm coating.
Tomatoes
Provide the main fresh flavour and juicy body inside the set jelly.
Mayonnaise sauce
Adds richness and a creamy, fatty texture that contrasts with the firm jelly.

The step that matters

Let the aspic set fully before turning out. Gelatine in aspic sets as it cools, and it needs enough time to firm up. If the jelly is not fully set, the mould will not hold its shape and the tomatoes and sauce can slump or spill when turned out.

“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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