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Orange Calf's Foot Jelly
Take one pint of calf's foot stock, carefully freed from fat and sediment, mix with it half a pint of strained orange-juice, the juice of two lemons, the whites and crushed shells of three eggs, the thin rinds of two oranges and one lemon, a dessert-spoonful of isinglass, and four ounces of sugar in lumps; stir these gently over the fire until they are well mixed, but as soon as the liquid begins to heat, leave off stirring, and let the scum rise undisturbed; let the jelly simmer fifteen minutes after it has reached the boiling point, then draw it to the side of the fire and let it stand fifteen minutes longer to settle; lift the bead of scum off carefully, and pour the jelly through a tamis until it is quite clear. Take a damp mould, pour in a little of the jelly to the depth of half an inch, and let it stand in a cool place until it is stiff; arrange the quarters of an orange on this in the form of a star, first freeing them entirely from the thick white skin; pour the rest of the jelly on them, and set the mould in a cool place. Turn it out carefully before serving. Probable cost, 2s. 6d. Sufficient for a quart mould.
A Victorian clarified jelly that depends entirely on the clearing step: the egg whites and shells trap sediment in a raft, and disturbing that raft ruins the finished look. Everything else is straightforward.
- The hinge: stop stirringStir gently only until the mixture is combined, and stop the moment it begins to warm. Once it heats, the egg white begins to coagulate and any agitation breaks the raft into cloudy threads that will not filter out. Let it rise, simmer, and settle untouched.
- Calf's foot stockA gelatinous stock made by long-boiling split calf's feet in water, then chilling and lifting off the fat cake. Butchers rarely stock feet now; pig's trotters give a comparable set, or use a well-reduced, strained, degreased veal stock. It must be firm enough to set on its own — the isinglass here is only insurance.
- IsinglassDried sturgeon swim bladder, sold in leaf or shred form and used as a setting agent. A dessertspoonful is roughly two level teaspoons. Powdered or leaf gelatine is the direct modern replacement; a scant two teaspoons of powdered gelatine, bloomed in cold liquid first, is the equivalent order of quantity.
- Sugar in lumpsLoaf or lump sugar was specified because it was the most refined grade available and carried least sediment — a real concern in a jelly meant to be crystal clear. Any modern granulated sugar is at least as pure. Four ounces is about half a cup.
- TamisA fine worsted straining cloth stretched over a frame. A jelly bag, or a sieve double-lined with scalded muslin, does the same job. Pour slowly, let it run by gravity, and never squeeze; the first cloudy runnings can be tipped back through the settled raft.
- RindsPare the zest thinly with no white pith, which turns the jelly bitter over a fifteen-minute simmer. Two oranges and one lemon of peel is a generous quantity for a quart — it is meant to taste emphatically of orange.
- Setting the starThe half-inch base layer must be properly firm before the orange segments go on, and the remaining jelly must be cool and syrupy — not warm — when it is poured over, or it will melt the base and float the fruit out of position.
- UnmouldingDip the mould to its rim in hand-hot water for a few seconds only, dry it, and invert onto a wetted plate so the jelly can be slid into place. A damp mould, as the recipe says, helps release.
- YieldA quart mould, serving six to eight as a dessert. The 2s. 6d. costing is Cassell's own guide for a Victorian household and has no modern meaning.
Clarified jelly was one of the show-pieces of nineteenth-century English cookery, and calf's foot jelly was its foundation: gelatine came out of the animal rather than a packet, extracted by hours of boiling feet and then clarified with egg white until it was optically clear. Calf's foot jelly also carried a strong association with the sickroom; it was standard invalid food throughout the century, thought nourishing and easy to take, and flavoured versions like this orange one were the festive end of the same tradition. The layered mould with fruit arranged in a star reflects the period's taste for jellies as centrepieces, set in elaborate copper or pewter moulds and turned out whole at table.