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Tomato Aspic Salad. No. 2
One-half box of gelatine, one-half cup of cold water, one can or eight tomatoes, one tablespoonful of chopped onion, one saltspoonful of celery seed, one bay leaf, one sprig of parsley, one-fourth of a teaspoonful of beef extract, one teaspoonful of salt, one-half teaspoonful of paprika, one tablespoonful of lemon juice, lettuce or cress, mayonnaise dressing. Soak the gelatine in the cold water one-half hour. Add the strained tomatoes, onion, celery seed, bay leaf, parsley and beef extract. Bring it to the boiling point, and add the paprika and lemon juice; mix and strain. Pour into a mould, when firm garnish with lettuce leaves or cress. Serve with a mayonnaise dressing.
A straightforward moulded tomato jelly that depends almost entirely on getting the gelatine ratio right. Two things in the original need attention before you start: the salt is listed but never used, and the gelatine is measured in a package size that no longer exists.
- Half a box of gelatinePeriod boxes of granulated gelatine varied in size; a box of roughly an ounce, sold divided into envelopes, was common, which would make half a box about 1/2 oz — the equivalent of two modern 1/4-oz envelopes. The measure is genuinely imprecise; two envelopes to about 2 1/2 cups total liquid gives an aspic firm enough to unmould.
- Add the gelatine lastAs written the softened gelatine goes in before the pot reaches boiling point. Prolonged boiling weakens gelatine's set. Bring the tomato and aromatics to a boil, strain, then stir the bloomed gelatine into the hot liquid off the heat until fully dissolved.
- The tomatoesCanned tomato sizes of the period varied, commonly from about a pint to a quart, so read 'one can' as roughly 2 to 2 1/2 cups of pulp and juice. Eight fresh tomatoes will give more, and more water; cook them down a little before straining or the aspic will be slack and pale-tasting.
- SaltspoonfulA saltspoon is a quarter teaspoon.
- Beef extractLiebig's or Bovril — a thick, dark, intensely salty meat paste, still sold. A quarter teaspoon is there for savoury depth, not beefiness. Concentrated beef base or a very reduced stock will stand in; if you use bouillon powder, cut back on the added salt.
- The forgotten saltThe teaspoonful of salt in the ingredient list never appears in the method. Season the strained liquid to taste before it sets, remembering that cold jelly tastes blander than warm liquid, so it should seem slightly over-seasoned while hot.
- Setting and unmouldingRinse the mould with cold water rather than oiling it, and chill at least 4 hours, or overnight. To turn it out, dip the mould briefly in hot water and invert onto a wet plate so the aspic can be slid into place.
- YieldAbout 2 1/2 cups of jelly — six small moulds or one 3-cup ring, serving six as a salad course.
Tomato aspic belongs to the moment when commercial granulated gelatine turned a labour of boiled calves' feet into a pantry staple: by around the turn of the century American cooks could buy granulated gelatine ready packeted, and moulded salads became a fixture of the ladies' luncheon and the summer supper table. A collection like Ninety-Nine Salads reflects that shift — salads were newly fashionable as a distinct course, and a clear, garnet-coloured jelly turned out whole onto a bed of lettuce was the sort of dish that showed off the cook. The flavourings here are typical of the period's savoury jellies: bay, parsley, celery seed, lemon, and a dab of beef extract, that late-Victorian shortcut sold on the strength of Justus von Liebig's name and used where a recipe wanted meaty depth without meat. Paprika, still relatively new to many English-language cookbooks, appears mainly for its warmth and its colour.