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Beef Jelly

A gelatinized beef broth set into molds, seasoned with salt and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,971 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Beef Jelly

Ingredients

Directions

Make the mixture

  1. Dissolve the gelatine in hot water.

  2. Add the dissolved gelatine to the beef tea.

  3. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Set the aspic

  1. Stir until it begins to set.

  2. Pour into small molds and set aside until firm.

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. Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,971 recipes

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

  2. Beef + teatop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together417 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methyl-3-(methyldithio)furan (thiamin, meat).

  3. Tea + peppertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together260 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef tea
Forms the savoury liquid base that gives the aspic its flavour.
Gelatine
Sets the liquid as it cools, turning it into a firm, sliceable jelly.

The step that matters

Stir until it begins to set. Gelatine thickens as it cools, so the timing matters. If it is poured after it has become too thick, it will not fill the molds evenly or release cleanly, while pouring too early may leave it too loose to hold its shape.

“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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