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Calf's Head in Jelly
Take a border mould and decorate it with fancy-cut carrot, green peas (which have been previously cooked), and hard-boiled egg. Half fill the mould with the remains of boiled calf's head, gently fill up with some of the stock in which the head was boiled, and allow to set. Un-mould, fill the centre with a dainty salad, and decorate the corners with a little mustard and cress. In hot weather it will be necessary to stiffen the stock with gelatine.
A leftovers dish dressed up as a centrepiece: cold boiled calf's head set in its own stock and turned out as a ring. The whole thing hinges on whether the stock sets firm enough to un-mould, which the original leaves to chance.
- The mouldA border mould is a ring mould, plain or fluted; sizes vary considerably. Any ring tin or savarin mould works; brush it with a film of neutral oil or rinse it with cold water before laying in the decoration so the set jelly releases cleanly.
- Calf's headWhole calf's head is now a special order from a butcher who handles veal, and few kitchens want to boil one. Boiled veal shin, tongue, or the meat from a couple of split veal knuckles gives the same soft gelatinous texture; cut it into neat dice rather than shredding.
- Test the stock before you trust itHead and knuckle stock is heavy with natural gelatine, but strength varies enormously. Chill a tablespoon of it on a saucer for ten minutes: if it does not wobble and hold a fingerprint, it will not un-mould. Add gelatine at about 1/2 oz (two envelopes, roughly 14 g) per pint of stock and dissolve it in a little warm stock before stirring it through.
- Clear stock, or the decoration disappearsCloudy stock hides the carrot and peas entirely. Skim the chilled fat off, then clarify with an egg-white and shell raft if the stock is murky, and strain through a cloth. Season it more highly than seems right, since cold jelly tastes noticeably blander than warm stock.
- Build it in stagesSet a thin layer of stock in the base first, arrange the cut carrot, peas and sliced egg on it, and chill until firm before adding the meat. "Gently fill up" is the important instruction: pour the remaining stock down the side of the mould or over the back of a spoon, or the pattern floats out of place.
- Chill properly, not at room temperatureCooked meat in warm stock is exactly the situation food safety guidance is written for. Cool the stock quickly, assemble cold, and set the mould in the refrigerator, not a larder. The note about "hot weather" suggests a household relying on a cool larder or cellar rather than mechanical refrigeration.
- Un-mouldingDip the mould in hot water for five to ten seconds, no more, wipe the base, and invert onto a wetted plate so the jelly can be slid into position if it lands off-centre.
- Mustard and cressThe seedling mix of white mustard and garden cress sold in punnets in Britain; small salad cress, or micro-greens with a peppery edge, stand in. Add it at the last moment as it wilts fast against cold jelly.
- YieldA ring of this size serves roughly six to eight as a cold lunch or buffet dish, depending on the mould, with the centre filled just before it goes to table.
Calf's head was a cornerstone of Victorian and Edwardian economy cookery: a cheap cut, enormously rich in natural gelatine, boiled whole to yield meat for mock turtle soup, brawn, and dishes like this one. The recipe demonstrates two skills the period prized, using up "the remains" of an earlier meal and turning them out as something ornamental. The elaborate decoration of moulded jelly is generally traced to the influence of Carême and the nineteenth-century French kitchen, whose chaud-froid and aspic work filtered down through English cookery books, and many a household manual expected a cook to set vegetables in patterns inside a ring mould. Commercial powdered gelatine is mentioned here almost apologetically, as insurance for warm weather rather than the default it later became.