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Shrimp Salad and Tomato Aspic
Put the strained liquor from a can of tomatoes over the fire, and season with salt, paprika, and the strained juice of 1 onion. Have ready half a box of gelatine that has soaked three hours in a cup of cold water. When the tomato liquor boils, skin, pour over the gelatine, and set in a cool place to jelly. Line a salad dish with lettuce leaves, arrange the shrimps on these, and place spoonfuls of the tomato jelly on them. Serve with French salad dressing.
A late-Victorian composed salad in two parts: a loose tomato jelly spooned over shrimp on lettuce. The proportions hinge on how much liquid you actually get out of the can, which the original leaves to chance.
- Half a box of gelatineA standard box of granulated gelatine held about 1 oz, commonly divided into four envelopes, so half a box is roughly 2 envelopes (½ oz, about 4½ teaspoons). That is a generous amount -- enough to set well over 2 cups firmly -- so for the softer, spoonable jelly described here err toward more liquid, counting the recipe's cup of soaking water toward the total.
- How much tomato liquorA large can of tomatoes may give only about a cup of strained juice. Bear in mind that the cup of cold soaking water counts toward the total liquid; if you want more volume still, add tomatoes pressed through a sieve or bottled tomato juice.
- Soaking timeThree hours in cold water suits the coarse sheet and granulated gelatines of the period. Modern granulated gelatine blooms fully in 5 to 10 minutes; longer does no harm but gains nothing.
- Do not boil the gelatineBring the seasoned tomato liquor to a boil, then pour it over the bloomed gelatine off the heat and stir until dissolved. Prolonged boiling is generally held to weaken gelatine's set; note that it is the liquid, not the gelatine mixture, that the recipe boils.
- Onion juiceThe juice of one onion means the liquid pressed from a grated onion through a sieve or squeezed in cloth, not chopped onion. Half a small onion gives about a teaspoon, which is plenty for 2 cups of tomato.
- The shrimpCanned shrimp, drained, was a common choice for a dish like this; fresh was likelier near the coast. Fresh or frozen shrimp need only 2 to 3 minutes in salted simmering water until just opaque, then a cold rinse; anything longer turns them tough and squeaky.
- Setting and assemblyChill at least 4 hours, ideally in a shallow pan so the jelly can be cut or broken into rough spoonfuls. Assemble at the last moment, since tomato jelly weeps onto lettuce as it warms.
- French salad dressingHere that means a plain vinaigrette, about three parts oil to one part vinegar with salt and pepper, not the sweet orange bottled dressing sold under that name today.
- YieldThe original gives no quantity of shrimp; about 1 lb in the shell will serve four as a first course or light lunch.
Tomato aspic belongs to the great age of American gelatine cookery, which opened once granulated gelatine in boxes made jellies a matter of measuring rather than of boiling calves' feet for a day. Jellied salads were fashionable in part for their manufactured look: clear, cool, moulded, and suggestive of a household with an icebox. The pairing with shrimp reflects another convenience of the moment, canned shellfish, which helped put shrimp on inland tables year round. Note that the jelly here is not moulded into the tidy ring of later cookbooks but spooned loosely over the shrimp, an earlier and more casual treatment.