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Aspic Game or Poultry
Cut up what is left of game or poultry into neat joints. Pour some aspic jelly into the bottom of a mould which has been soaked in cold water; next a layer of stars or diamonds cut out of cold boiled white of egg; a few leaves of parsley, and the red part of cold boiled tongue dotted here and there. Let it become nearly stiff, then arrange the cold game or poultry, taking care to leave room for the jelly to run in between. Fill the mould with jelly, which should be cool when it is poured in. When quite stiff, turn on a mould and garnish with parsley. Time to stiffen, about twelve hours.
A Victorian way of turning the last of a roast bird into a cold moulded dish. Everything depends on the setting strength of the jelly and on keeping the whole thing cold from start to finish.
- Aspic jellyThe book assumes you have savoury jelly on hand: strong, well-cleared stock set with gelatine. For a firm mould that will turn out cleanly, count on about 1 oz of powdered gelatine (roughly four envelopes) to a quart of cold stock, less if the stock is already gelatinous from bones and feet.
- Cool, not warmThe instruction that jelly "should be cool when it is poured in" is the hinge. Warm jelly melts the decorated layer beneath and dulls the cooked meat. Pour it when it is syrupy and just beginning to thicken at the edge of the bowl.
- Soaking the mouldRinsing the mould in cold water, rather than oiling it, leaves a thin film that helps the first layer of jelly set smoothly and release later. The book gives no quantities; a plain metal charlotte or ring mould of 1 to 1.5 quarts is a reasonable choice.
- Building in stagesEach layer must be nearly set before the next goes on, or the egg-white stars and tongue slide out of place. Chill between additions, and hold the reserve jelly only just warm enough to stay liquid, and no longer than needed, so it does not set in the jug.
- Boiled tongueCold boiled ox tongue was a standing item in a Victorian larder; its red centre was prized as a colour note. Cooked ham, a strip of pimento, or a sliver of cured beef gives the same effect.
- Twelve hours means the refrigeratorWritten for a cold larder or ice chest. Set and store it at 40F or below, and keep the cooked game or poultry refrigerated throughout the assembly rather than standing out while you cut and arrange.
- Turning outDip the mould briefly in hot water and invert onto a chilled serving dish; the decorated first layer becomes the top. Do not warm it long enough to slacken the jelly inside.
- Yield and keepingThe book gives no yield; a mould of about 1.5 quarts would serve roughly six to eight as a cold luncheon dish with salad. Eat it within two days, since the meat inside is already cooked leftovers.
Aspic dishes like this one belong to the economics of the Victorian and Edwardian household, where a large roast bird was expected to reappear in a second and third form. Gelatine-set moulds let cold scraps be presented as a formal cold entree, and the decorative layer of cut egg white, parsley and red tongue was standard garnishing practice in professional kitchens of the period, worked out on the bottom of the mould so that it emerged as the top of the finished dish. The word aspic itself comes from French, where it names the clear savoury jelly; the traditional explanation links it to aspic, the asp, for the mottled look of the set jelly, though that derivation is disputed. The rise of packaged powdered gelatine in the late nineteenth century put such moulds within reach of cooks who had no time to boil down calves' feet, which is why they crowd the pages of household compilations of this era.