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Aspic Jelly
Ingredients.
One quart of good Stock.
One ounce of French Gelatine.
Half a gill of Tarragon Vinegar.
Half a gill of Sherry.
The Whites of two Eggs.
Put the stock, gelatine, and whites of eggs into a stewpan, and stir until nearly boiling, then add the vinegar, let it boil up, stand it by the side of the fire for fifteen minutes, and then strain it.
A savoury setting jelly rather than a dish in itself: clarified stock stiffened with gelatine, used to coat cold meat and fish, line moulds, or set vegetable salads. Two things in the original need attention before you start.
- The sherry never gets addedIt is in the ingredient list and then vanishes from the method. Add it with the tarragon vinegar, before the final boil, so the alcohol has a chance to cook off and the flavour distributes evenly.
- Stop stirring before it boilsThis is the hinge. The egg white coagulates into a raft that traps the cloudy particles; once it begins to set, stirring breaks the raft and you get a permanently murky jelly. Stir only until the mixture is hot and the whites are dispersed, then leave it alone.
- A gill and half a gillHalf a gill — A gill is a quarter of a pint, 5 fl oz in imperial measure, so half a gill is about 2½ fl oz, roughly 5 tablespoons of tarragon vinegar and the same of sherry. (Note that an American gill is 4 fl oz, which would make half a gill 2 fl oz, or 4 tablespoons.)
- Gelatine quantityOne ounce is four ¼-oz envelopes of modern powdered gelatine, and against one quart of liquid that gives a firm jelly that unmoulds cleanly and can be chopped. If you only want to brush a glaze over cold salmon or a galantine, half that is plenty. Bloom the powder in a little of the cold stock first.
- Start with good stockThe clarification removes cloudiness, not blandness. A veal or chicken stock made with knuckle and wing tips will already be slightly gelatinous cold, which improves both flavour and set. Skim every trace of fat off before you begin, since fat will not clarify out and leaves a dull film.
- "By the side of the fire"Means the coolest part of the range: hot enough to hold near a simmer without moving. On a modern hob, take the pan off the heat entirely or set it on the lowest burner for the fifteen minutes while the raft firms.
- StrainingUse a jelly bag or a double layer of muslin scalded with boiling water, and let it drip without pressing or squeezing. If the first run is not brilliantly clear, pour it through the same bed of egg white a second time.
- Yield and useAbout one quart, enough for a moulded dish or to glaze two or three cold ones. Once set it will generally keep a few days covered in the refrigerator and can be melted gently and re-used.
Aspic belongs to the decorative cold cookery that dominated late nineteenth-century professional kitchens, where a clear amber jelly was both a preservative coating and the ground on which a chef arranged truffle, cucumber and beetroot cut-outs. Before commercial gelatine, the jelly came from long-boiled calves' feet, which is why "French gelatine" reads here like a small luxury. The tarragon vinegar is the standard aspic seasoning, sharp enough to keep a rich stock from tasting flat once cold, and the sherry is the usual fortifying note. The name is often traced to the French aspic for asp, on the strength of the jelly's mottled, snakeskin-like surface, though that explanation is traditional rather than settled.