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Aspic Jelly
Two slices of onion Two slices of carrot A stalk of celery A bay-leaf A sprig of parsley The yellow rind of a lemon (grated) One-fourth teaspoon of Larkin Cayenne Pepper One teaspoon of Larkin Table Salt Put these ingredients into one and one-half pints of cold water, bring to a boil, and cook three minutes. Moisten one-half package of Larkin Gelatine in one cup of cold water, add to boiling mixture, together with two teaspoons of Larkin Extract of Beef. Take from fire, strain, and if it is not clear, clarify with the white and shell of one egg. Mix the egg with the liquid, return it to the stove until it boils. Strain again and pour into moulds. Garnish with cut vegetables or parsley.
A savoury gelatine mould built on beef extract rather than a long-simmered stock — quick by the standards of the period, and still workable if you handle the gelatine and the clarification correctly.
- The hinge: never hard-boil the gelatineGelatine loses setting power with prolonged boiling, and the recipe boils it twice — once when added and again during clarification. Bring it only to the barest simmer both times and take it off the moment the surface trembles.
- Half a package of gelatineGenuinely ambiguous. Boxes of granulated gelatine of the period held roughly an ounce, so half a package is about 1/2 oz, or two modern 1/4 oz (7 g) envelopes. Two envelopes to 4 cups is the standard modern ratio; if you want a mould that turns out cleanly and holds a sliced edge, err on the generous side.
- Liquid and yieldOne and one-half pints is 3 cups, plus the cup used to soften the gelatine — about 4 cups of finished jelly, less a little to evaporation and straining. That serves six to eight as a garnish or salad base.
- Extract of beefLarkin's extract was a thick, dark, salty concentrate of the Liebig/Bovril type. Two teaspoons of a modern concentrated beef base or glace is the equivalent; if you use bouillon cubes, cut the added salt back, and if you use ordinary stock instead you will need to reduce it hard first or the flavour will be thin.
- Clarifying with eggMix the white and crushed shell into the liquid while it is warm but not hot, then bring it up slowly without stirring so the raft forms and traps the cloud. Adding egg to boiling liquid, as the wording suggests, sets it in shreds and clarifies nothing. Strain through a cloth-lined sieve and let it drip rather than pressing it.
- Larkin salt and cayenneSimply table salt and cayenne pepper. One teaspoon of salt is modest for 4 cups given the salt already in the beef extract — taste the strained liquid before it sets, since cold jelly tastes blander than warm liquid.
- Moulds and settingRinse the moulds with cold water or wipe them with a trace of neutral oil. Four hours in the refrigerator is usually enough for small moulds, overnight for a single large one. To unmould, dip briefly in warm water and invert.
- Lemon rindGrated yellow rind only, no white pith, and it goes out at the strainer — it is there for aroma. Keep it out of the finished jelly, which should be clear.
Aspic occupied an odd place in turn-of-the-century American cooking: descended from the elaborate cold work of French professional kitchens, where jelly came from days of simmering calves' feet and bones, but democratised by two industrial products — granulated gelatine sold in small boxes and meat extract sold in jars. Between them they turned a showpiece into a weeknight possibility, which is why the vegetables here are simmered for three minutes rather than three hours. The Larkin brand names run through the ingredient list because the Larkin Company of Buffalo, a mail-order soap and grocery firm, distributed cookery booklets promoting its own line of household goods; recipes of this kind were written to be made entirely from a single catalogue. The name itself is usually traced to the French aspic, and the frequent explanation that it refers to the snake, for the mottled look of a jellied mould, is traditional rather than settled.