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Veal, Mousse Of
Line an oval Charlotte mould with aspic; garnish with slices of truffle and strips of hardboiled white of egg, or with cooked sweetbread stamped out in fancy shapes. Pound and sieve three ounces of cooked veal with two ounces of foie gras, mix it with half a pint of cool stock in which half an ounce of sheet gelatine has been melted, and a glass of sherry. Stir in a table-spoonful of truffle essence, and whip the mixture until it looks spongy. Put the mixture into the mould; pour more aspic over the top, and set on ice until firm. Turn out, and garnish with slices of truffle and blocks of aspic.
A cold moulded entrée from the era when aspic work was a test of a cook's hand. Nothing here is difficult, but the timing of the whipping decides whether it turns out at all.
- The hinge: whip at the right momentSet the bowl over ice water and whisk only once the gelatine mixture has thickened to the consistency of unbeaten egg white. Whipped while still fluid it will not hold air; left a minute too long it seizes into lumps that cannot be smoothed out.
- Lining the mould with aspicChill the mould thoroughly, pour in a few tablespoons of cool but still liquid aspic, and rotate it over ice until a thin even coat sets. Repeat for a second coat, then bed the truffle slices and egg-white strips in a little more aspic so they are locked in place before the mousse goes in.
- Half a pintIn this English book that is 10 fluid ounces, about 1 1/4 cups. Use good jellied veal or chicken stock, cool but not set.
- Sheet gelatineHalf an ounce is about 14 g, roughly seven modern leaves at 2 g each, though leaf weights and strengths vary. That is generous for 10 fl oz, but the mixture is aerated and must stand unmoulded, which may account for it. Powdered gelatine is usually substituted at about the same weight, bloomed in a little of the cold stock.
- Pound and sieveA food processor does the pounding, but push the purée through a fine sieve or tamis afterwards regardless. Any sinew left in cooked veal shows up as threads once the mousse is aerated.
- Truffle essenceThe bottled truffle juice sold with tinned truffles is the closest thing still available. Truffle oil is not a substitute; it is aggressive and does not behave the same way in a cold set mixture.
- Foie grasUse a tinned or jarred cooked foie gras or a smooth foie gras parfait, at room temperature so it blends without streaking. Coarse pâté de campagne will overwhelm the veal.
- Set on iceRead as refrigerate. Four hours minimum, overnight is better. To turn out, dip the mould in warm water for a few seconds and invert onto a chilled plate.
- YieldThree ounces of veal and two of foie gras make a small mousse: a first course for four to six, sliced, as part of a cold table.
Cold mousses set in Charlotte moulds and clad in aspic belong to the high period of professional cold cookery, roughly the 1880s to the First World War, when the garde-manger of a large kitchen was judged on the clarity of his jelly and the neatness of his truffle cut-outs. Veal was a natural base: pale, and bland enough to carry the flavourings that signalled expense — truffle, foie gras, sherry. The technique survived into mid-century hotel work and then largely vanished, less because aspic became difficult than because the labour behind it stopped being affordable in domestic kitchens.