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Orange Jelly
Use only half a pint of water to 1 ounce of isinglass, and proceed as in the recipe "Isinglass Jelly." Then rub the rinds of 1 lemon and of 2 oranges on a piece of loaf sugar, which must be scraped off into a basin, in which the juice of the lemon and the juice of 5 or 6 oranges must be squeezed. Then add the melted isinglass, and mix well together. Strain through a fine sieve.
A sickroom jelly built on isinglass, with the citrus oils captured by the old trick of rubbing zest off on a sugar loaf. Everything here works in a modern kitchen once you translate the setting agent.
- IsinglassA gelatin made from the swim bladders of sturgeon and other fish, sold in leaf or shredded form. It is still available from brewing suppliers, but ordinary powdered gelatin is the practical substitute: 1 oz of isinglass sets roughly as much liquid as 1 oz (about four 1/4-oz envelopes) of modern gelatin, though isinglass strength varied, so test a spoonful on a cold saucer before molding.
- Half a pintOne cup in US measure, or 10 fl oz if you are following an English book of the period. This is deliberately a small amount of water because the orange and lemon juice make up the rest of the liquid.
- The cross-reference"Isinglass Jelly" would have directed the cook to soften the isinglass in the cold water and then warm it until fully dissolved, though that recipe is not reproduced here. Keep the heat gentle rather than hard-boiling: overheated gelatin sets less firmly.
- Loaf sugar and zestRubbing a hard sugar lump over the fruit abrades the peel and traps the aromatic oils in the sugar, which then dissolves in the juice. With granulated sugar, grate the zest finely instead and rub it into about 4 oz of sugar with your fingertips, then let it stand ten minutes before adding the juice.
- Do not heat the juiceThe melted isinglass goes into the cold citrus, not the other way round. Cooking the juice destroys the fresh flavor the recipe exists for, and if the isinglass is still near boiling when it hits the acid it may set poorly.
- StrainingA fine sieve is the minimum; a sieve lined with damp muslin gives the clearer jelly that was prized in invalid cookery. Strain into the mold or into individual glasses, then chill 4 to 6 hours until firmly set.
- SweetnessOranges of the period were often smaller and sharper than modern navels, though this varied by variety and source. Taste the mixture before it sets and add sugar as needed; a cold jelly tastes less sweet than the warm liquid did.
- YieldAbout 1 pint of jelly, enough for four small molds or six sickroom servings.
Invalid cookery was a distinct department of nineteenth-century household manuals: light, clear, easily swallowed dishes for the bedridden, when convalescent diet was one of the few things a family could actively supply. Jellies were prized because they seemed nourishing and slipped down without effort, and isinglass -- prepared from the swim bladders of sturgeon and related fish, much of it imported from Russia -- was regarded as purer and more delicate than the bone-derived gelatins and the tedious homemade calf's-foot stock. Rubbing citrus on a lump of loaf sugar was a common method in kitchens that bought sugar in cones and had no zester; it appears in old punch and pudding recipes as well.