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Isinglass Jelly
Dissolve two ounces isinglass in two quarts of boiling water. `When cold, add juice of three lemons and skin of one, whites of three eggs, well beaten, one and a half pounds of sugar, one pint cider, four pieces cinnamon (size of the little finger), eight blades of mace. Let it boil up well. Be careful not to stir after the ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Let it stand ten minutes after removing from the fire, and just before straining pour in a pint of wine.--Mrs. W. R. R.
A clarified wine jelly of the old school: the gelatin does the setting, the egg whites do the clearing, and the wine goes in last so the alcohol and perfume survive. Two things decide whether it works — the strength of your gelatin and your willingness to leave the pot alone.
- Isinglass, and what to use insteadIsinglass is dried fish swim bladder (usually sturgeon), sold in sheets or shreds and soaked before use. Its gelling strength was never standardized, so the two ounces here is only a rough guide; for the roughly three quarts of finished liquid, 1½ to 2 oz of powdered gelatin (about six to eight envelopes) gives a jelly firm enough to unmold.
- The clarification is the pointBeaten whites are added to the cold liquid so that they coagulate slowly as it heats, gathering sediment into a raft. Stirring after everything is combined breaks the raft and you get a cloudy jelly. Heat gently, let it boil up once, then take it off.
- StrainingTen minutes off the fire lets the raft settle. Ladle through a scalded flannel jelly bag or several layers of damp cheesecloth and never squeeze it — pressure pushes the fines through and undoes the whole operation. Pouring it back through a second time gives a brighter result.
- "One pint cider"In the 1870s "cider" often meant fermented hard cider rather than sweet juice, though the recipe does not specify. Either will work, but sweet cider makes a markedly sweeter, blander jelly against the pound and a half of sugar.
- Wine lastThe pint of wine goes in after the pot leaves the heat. This is deliberate: boiling it off would cost you both the alcohol and the aroma. A madeira or sherry suits the cinnamon and mace; the original cook would likely have used one of those.
- Whole spice quantitiesFour pieces of cinnamon "size of the little finger" suggests roughly finger-length pieces, say two to three inches each; eight blades of mace is on the order of a teaspoon of the whole spice. Both go in whole so the straining removes them; ground spice will cloud the jelly.
- LemonPeel only the yellow zest of the one lemon — white pith can turn the jelly bitter, and citrus acid also slightly weakens the set, which is another reason not to skimp on gelatin.
- Setting and yieldAbout three quarts, enough for 12 to 16. Pour into a rinsed mold and chill at least six hours, better overnight; dip the mold briefly in warm water to turn it out.
Isinglass reached the nineteenth-century kitchen from the brewing and winemaking trades, where collagen from sturgeon swim bladders had long been used to fine cloudy liquid; Russian sturgeon supplied much of the trade, with North American fisheries contributing as well. Before packaged sheet and powdered gelatin became widely and reliably available, a cook who wanted a clear molded jelly could use isinglass, calves' feet boiled down for hours, or hartshorn shavings; isinglass was often preferred as the cleanest-tasting and least laborious of the three. Recipes like this one, credited to a contributor identified only by initials, belong to a class of dessert whose whole appeal was transparency: sugar, spice, citrus and wine suspended in something you could see through, set in a fluted mold and admired before it was eaten. The technique of clarifying with beaten egg white is the same one used for consommé, which itself dropped out of domestic use.