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Calf's Feet Jelly
1084. Put a set of calf's feet well cleaned into a pan with five quarts of water, and let them boil gently till reduced to two quarts. Then take out the feet, let the jelly become quite cold, skim the fat off clean, and clear the jelly from the sediment. Beat the whites of eight eggs to a froth, then add one bottle of raisin-wine or sherry, squeeze in the juice of from eight to twelve lemons, and the peel of five or six. Sweeten it to the taste (about two pounds and a quarter of loaf sugar). When the stock is boiling, take three spoonfuls of it
A wine jelly built on gelatine extracted from calf's feet, clarified with egg white and set in a mould. The method is sound; the quantities are Victorian and the finishing steps have been lost from the end of the entry.
- A set of calf's feetUsually the four feet of one calf, split, as sold by a butcher who breaks down whole calves; ask ahead. Split pig's trotters can stand in, though you will need more of them, and the flavour is stronger and the colour less clear.
- Scale and yieldFive quarts reduced to two is a long slow simmer, several hours at least. Two quarts of stock is about 2.3 litres, and with the wine and lemon juice added the finished jelly comes to over three litres. Halving throughout works without trouble.
- Chill before you clarifyCooling right through is not optional. Fat lifts off the cold jelly as a solid cap, and the cloudy sediment stays behind in the bottom of the basin; skimming a warm stock achieves neither.
- The clarification is the hingeWhisked egg white coagulates as the liquid heats and traps the haze. Once the raft forms, do not stir or let the pan reach a rolling boil — break the raft and the jelly turns permanently cloudy. Ladle the liquid through a scalded jelly bag or double muslin without squeezing, and pour the first cloudy run back through.
- Raisin wineA sweet wine made from pressed raisins, common enough in the period and now effectively unobtainable. The recipe's own alternative, a bottle (75 cl) of sherry, is what to use; a medium amontillado or cream sherry suits the sugar level.
- Lemons and sugarStart with the juice of eight modern lemons, something over 300 ml, and taste before going further. Peel means pared zest with no white pith, and five or six lemons' worth will turn bitter if left in beyond the clarifying stage.
- Loaf sugarCone sugar broken from a loaf — refined white sugar, so granulated is a direct substitute. Two and a quarter pounds is a little over a kilogram, which is very sweet by present taste; add half, then adjust before straining.
- SettingRinse the moulds in cold water rather than oiling them, and give the jelly at least six hours in the refrigerator. Alcohol and acid both weaken a gelatine set, so if the reduction has not gone far enough the jelly will slump when turned out; test a spoonful on a cold saucer first.