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Meat Jellies for Pies and Sauces

A gelatinous stock made by simmering beef, veal, ham, and aromatics for several hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Carrot and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,053 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Meat Jellies for Pies and Sauces

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the shin of beef and knuckle or neck of veal into pieces.

  2. Combine the meat with the ham in a large pot.

  3. Add 3 quarts of cold water and bring to a gentle simmer.

  4. Add the carrots, parsley, onion, bay leaves, mace, peppercorns, and salt.

Make the jelly

  1. Stew gently for 5 to 6 hours, skimming off any fat that rises to the surface.

  2. Once cooled, strain the mixture through a fine sieve or cloth to remove solids.

  3. Store the jelly in a cool place until set.

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. Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,053 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Carrot + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,873 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Parsley + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,768 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Clove + macetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together8,400 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

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

What each ingredient does

Shin of beef
Breaks down during long stewing to release gelatin that lets the liquid set.
Knuckle or neck of veal
Adds collagen-rich connective tissue that turns into gelatin, giving the jelly its body.
Lean ham
Adds savory, salty flavor to the stock as it simmers with the meat.
Coarse sea salt
Seasons the stock so the finished jelly tastes well-seasoned.

The step that matters

Skimming off the fat during the stew. Fat that rises and stays in the pot can make the finished jelly greasy and cloudy. Removing it as it forms keeps the stock clear and clean-tasting.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, veal, ham, carrot, parsley, onion, clove):

  1. Celeryfits better
  2. Marjoramfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, veal, ham, carrot, parsley, onion, clove. 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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