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Stuffed Olives in Aspic
Stone olives, using an olive stoner, and fill cavities thus made with green butter. Place small Dario moulds in pan of ice-water, and pour in aspic jelly mixture (see p. 382) onefourth inch deep. When firm put an olive in each mould (keeping olives in place by means of small wooden skewers) and add aspic by spoonfuls until moulds are filled. Chill thoroughly, remove to circular slices of liver sausage, garnish with green butter forced through a pastry bag and tube, yolks of "hard-boiled " eggs forced through a strainer, and red peppers cut in fancy shapes. Green Butter. Mix yolk one "hard-boiled" egg, two tablespoons butter, one sprig parsley, one sprig tarragon, one small shallot, one-half teaspoon anchovy paste, one teaspoon capers, and one teaspoon chopped gherkins, and pound in a mortar; then rub through a very fine sieve. Season with salt and pepper, and add a few drops vinegar.
A cold garde-manger set piece from the era when an "entrée" could be a single olive suspended in jelly. Nothing here is difficult, but everything depends on the aspic being clear and firm enough to unmould.
- "Dario" mouldsA typo or phonetic spelling of dariole moulds — small straight-sided metal cups of about 2 fl oz. Espresso cups, mini muffin tins, or 1-oz silicone moulds all work; silicone spares you the dip in warm water at unmoulding.
- The aspic is the whole dishThe cross-reference on p. 382 will be the book's own aspic jelly, a clarified stock set with gelatin. Aim for a firm set — roughly 1 envelope (2½ tsp) powdered gelatin per 1½ cups of well-flavoured stock — since a soft jelly will slump the moment it leaves the mould. Cool the mixture to barely syrupy before pouring or the olive will drift.
- Layer, don't rushThe quarter-inch base layer must be genuinely firm before the olive goes in, and the remaining aspic added by spoonfuls so the olive stays centred. Skewers hold it upright; withdraw them once the surrounding jelly has begun to set, and top up the pinholes with a little more aspic.
- Green butterEssentially a small-batch Montpellier butter. A mini food processor replaces the mortar, but the pass through a fine sieve is not optional if you intend to pipe it — shallot and caper fragments will jam a small star tube. Keep it cool but pipeable, around 65F.
- Liver sausageSliced liverwurst or a smooth Braunschweiger, cut in rounds slightly wider than the mould, is the intended base. Chill the slices firm before cutting so the edges stay clean.
- Olive stonerLarge pitted green olives, drained and patted dry, save the step entirely. Fill them with green butter using a small piping bag; if the olives are wet the butter will not adhere.
- Red peppersMost likely pickled or canned pimiento, or another mild sweet red pepper, cut into diamonds and crescents with a paring knife or aspic cutters — not fresh chilli.
- Yield and serviceOne mould per person as an hors d'oeuvre; a dozen small moulds is a practical batch. Assemble no more than a few hours ahead, keep refrigerated until service, and serve cold — the aspic begins to weep and slump at room temperature.
Aspic entrées like this one belong to the high period of American cold cookery, when commercial powdered gelatin had made clear jelly a matter of measurement rather than of boiling calves' feet all afternoon, and cooking schools taught the decorative work of the professional garde-manger. The green butter is a domesticated version of beurre de Montpellier, a French compound butter of herbs, anchovy, capers and hard-boiled yolk traditionally used to coat cold salmon and to pipe borders on chaud-froid platters; its colour comes entirely from the parsley and tarragon pounded raw into the fat. The olive stoner named in the first line is a reminder of how many single-purpose gadgets a well-equipped kitchen of the period owned, and the whole assembly, jelly on sausage under piped butter and cut pimiento, shows the period's taste for food built in visible layers and served cold on a platter for admiration before it was eaten.