Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
Ox-foot Jelly
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the stock
Wash the scalded ox-foot in cold water and dry it with a cloth.
Cut across the first joint and down between the hoofs, then chop the long piece of bone in half.
Place the pieces in a saucepan and cover with cold water, then bring to a boil.
Pour away the water, wash the pieces again, and return them to the saucepan with 2 quarts of cold water.
Stew gently for 6 hours, skimming carefully from time to time.
Strain the stock into a basin to cool, then remove the fat with a spoon.
Wipe the top and sides of the basin with a cloth dipped in very hot water to remove any remaining fat.
Make the jelly
Peel the lemons thinly and add the peel and strained juice to a clean saucepan along with the whipped egg white, crushed shell, sugar, cinnamon stick, and cloves.
Add the jelly stock and heat, stirring until it boils.
Cover the saucepan and let it sit by the fire for 20 to 30 minutes.
Strain through a jelly bag, returning the liquid 3 or 4 times until clear.
Mold and set
Scald a quart mold with hot water, rinse with cold, and pour the cooled jelly into the mold.
Set aside until set.
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.
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Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Lemon + cinnamontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,950 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Lemon + clovetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,150 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ox-foot
- Its bones and connective tissue release gelatin into the stock, giving the jelly its body.
- Lump sugar
- Adds sweetness and balances the sharpness of the lemon juice.
- Egg white
- When whipped and heated, it gathers impurities so the jelly can be clarified to clear.
- Lemons
- Juice and peel add acidity and aroma, brightening the jelly.
The step that matters
Strain through a jelly bag until clear. Returning the liquid through the bag several times removes cloudiness and small particles, so the finished jelly looks bright and clear rather than murky.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, cinnamon, clove):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, cinnamon, 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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