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Tomato Jelly Salad
Season a can of tomatoes with 2 cloves, 1/2 bay leaf, and 1/2 teaspoonful each of salt and paprika. Boil for fifteen minutes, then add 1 tablespoonful of gelatine dissolved in 1/2 cupful of water. Strain into small moulds, and when cold and firm turn out on lettuce, and garnish with 2 cupfuls of chopped celery, mixed with mayonnaise.
A plain tomato aspic of the kind that anchored countless luncheon plates a century ago. The only technical step is the gelatine, and it wants a light hand.
- Bloom, then dissolve off the heatSprinkle the gelatine over the 1/2 cup of cold water and let it stand five minutes until swollen, then stir it into the hot tomato. Prolonged boiling can weaken gelatine's set, so take the pan off the heat before it goes in. (The original adds the gelatine first and strains afterwards; either order works.)
- The can of tomatoesCans of this period varied; a No. 2 can held about 2 1/2 cups, larger sizes more. A modern 14.5 oz can with its juice is about the right scale here; a 28 oz can holds roughly twice as much and would want the gelatine increased accordingly.
- Gelatine quantityA tablespoon is a little more than one 1/4 oz envelope of granulated gelatine (an envelope is about 2 1/4 teaspoons). That will set roughly 1 1/2 to 2 cups of liquid firmly enough to unmould. Fifteen minutes of boiling reduces the tomato, so measure the strained liquid and top up with water if it has fallen short.
- Strain properlyPush the cooked tomato through a fine sieve rather than simply pouring it off, so you get the pulp as well as the juice. Discard the cloves and bay leaf. A pale, watery strain makes a bland jelly.
- PaprikaHalf a teaspoon of the sweet Hungarian or Spanish paprika sold today is a mild seasoning and mainly there for colour. If your only paprika is hot or smoked, use less.
- Setting timeSmall moulds need about three hours in the refrigerator, a single larger mould four to six. Rinse the moulds in cold water before filling, and dip the base in warm water for a few seconds to turn them out.
- YieldEnough for four to six individual moulds. The two cups of celery in mayonnaise is generous for that number and can be halved if it is a first course rather than a main-dish salad.
Tomato jelly salads spread through American cookery after granulated gelatine became a cheap pantry staple from the 1890s, replacing the longer business of boiling calves' feet or isinglass. Moulded salads suited such books well: they could be made in the morning, held in the icebox, and turned out looking like the work of a professional. Savoury aspic with celery and mayonnaise on lettuce is a familiar luncheon formula of the era, and the canned tomato offered tomato flavour out of season - one of the early conveniences commercial canning brought to the home cook.