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Cayenne and Mustard
Grate the Gruyère and Parmesan, whisk the cream and jelly together, then stir in the cheese, season to taste with salt, cayenne, and made mustard, whisk the jelly and mix it in lightly; serve in Ramequin cases with a layer of aspic and a little grated cheese on the top und edge finely chopped assec little corraline pep: of each case & a & very small pieces of parsley.
A cold cheese cream set with aspic, served in individual cases as a savoury. The text is garbled in places and gives no quantities at all, so treat it as a method rather than a formula.
- The text itselfThe closing lines are corrupt: "und edge finely chopped assec" is almost certainly "and edge finely chopped aspic", and "a little corraline pep:" is coralline pepper. Read the ending as: set in the cases with a layer of aspic, then finish the top with grated cheese, chopped aspic, coralline pepper and very small pieces of parsley.
- No quantities givenThe original assumes a cook who knows the proportions. A workable balance for this style of cheese cream is roughly equal weights of grated cheese and whipped cream, with liquid aspic at about a third the volume of the cream; anything more jelly and it sets rubbery rather than creamy.
- Jelly means aspic"Jelly" here is savoury aspic, not preserve. It must be liquid but barely warm when it goes in — hot jelly will collapse the whipped cream, and set jelly will seize into threads. Whisk it to a light froth as directed and fold it through quickly.
- Made mustardMustard mixed to a paste with water or vinegar, as opposed to dry mustard powder. The recipe does not say which mustard; an English-style prepared mustard would be the usual assumption in a British kitchen of this sort.
- Coralline pepperA Victorian and Edwardian garnish: a very finely ground, brilliant scarlet red pepper sold under that name and used chiefly for its colour. The name is often explained as a reference to lobster coral, but that derivation is not documented. It is not sold now; a light dusting of paprika or cayenne gives the colour.
- Ramequin casesIn this period these were small paper or china cases, closer to a modern petit-four case or a small ramekin. Portions for a savoury course were small.
- The cheesesGruyère carries the body and Parmesan the salt; grate both finely on a rasp so they disperse rather than sitting as shreds. Season with salt only after the Parmesan is in, or the result will be over-salted.
- Chilling and yieldAllow at least two hours in the refrigerator to set firm, and keep it cold until service — this is served chilled, not at room temperature. The original gives no quantities, so no yield can be worked out from it; scale to the number of cases you want to fill.
This belongs to the savoury, the small, sharply seasoned course that closed a formal British dinner between the sweet and the dessert fruit, and which had no real counterpart in French service. Cheese, anchovy, cayenne and mustard were the standard flavours, on the reasoning that something salt and pungent finished the palate and, in the usual explanation, suited the gentlemen's port. Cold cheese creams set with aspic were a favourite because they could be made in advance and turned out in numbers, and they show off the two things a well-equipped kitchen of the period took for granted: a stock pot yielding clear jelly, and cream whipped by hand. Coralline pepper, the scarlet dust called for on top, was a commercial product of the period, often said to be made from dried lobster coral, though that derivation is no more than folk etymology; it is one of the clearest signs of the era, along with the savoury course itself. The title "Cayenne and Mustard" is the compiler's shorthand for the seasoning that defines the dish.