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Goose in Aspic Jelly
Cut up three calves' feet, put them in a saucepan with two quarts of water and boil until the flesh leaves the bones. Singe, draw and clean a goose, put it into a saucepan, strain the liquor of the feet over it, put in two or three small onions, two bay leaves, a small bunch of thyme, basil and tarragon, a teaspoonful of bruised allspice, three or four cloves and half a lemon. Pour in more water to bring the liquor nearly to the height of the goose, put the lid on the stewpan and place it over the fire until the liquor boils; then move it to the side and simmer until the goose is tender. When cooked, take the goose out of the saucepan, cut the meat off in slices, put the bones back into the liquor and boil for twenty minutes longer. Dust a small quantity of cayenne pepper into the liquor, give it a sharp flavor by adding lemon juice or vinegar, strain through a jelly bag until clear and skim off all the fat. Pour a thin layer of the jelly into a rather shallow mould, leave it to set, then arrange on it pieces of beetroot cut in various shapes, the whites and yolks of hard-boiled eggs, sliced separately, and a few green pickles. Pour carefully over these another thin layer of the jelly and leave it until firm. Arrange the slices of goose on top of the jelly, then pour in carefully the remainder. Pack the mould in ice or stand it in a cool place until the contents are quite firm. Before serving, dip the mould in tepid water, wipe it, turn the jelly out onto a dish and garnish with sprigs of parsley.
A classic gelatin-from-scratch dish: the calves' feet are the setting agent, not an ingredient you taste. Everything else follows from getting that jelly clear and firm.
- Calves' feetThree feet in two quarts of water yields a stock rich enough to set firm when cold. Butchers will still order them, as will halal and Latin markets; pig's trotters work the same way. If you substitute powdered gelatin, note that the original gives no way to calculate the equivalent, so you will need to test: chill a spoonful of the finished liquor on a saucer for ten minutes and see whether it sets before committing the mould.
- The gooseThe recipe gives no weight or timing; for a bird of roughly 8-10 lb allow something in the region of 2 to 2 1/2 hours at a bare simmer, testing for tenderness rather than working to the clock. Goose renders a great deal of fat: skim the pot repeatedly, and chill the strained liquor so the fat cap lifts off in one piece rather than trying to spoon it off warm.
- Never let it boil hardOnce the goose goes in, the liquor should barely tremble. A rolling boil emulsifies fat into the stock and clouds the jelly, which the jelly bag alone will not put right.
- Straining clearA jelly bag means an unbleached cotton or flannel cone; a double layer of damp muslin in a sieve does the same job. Let it drip without squeezing, and pass it twice if the first run is hazy.
- SeasoningNo salt is specified. Season the liquor to taste after the final boil and slightly over-season it, since cold jelly reads flatter on the palate than hot broth. The cayenne and the lemon or vinegar are what keep a rich goose aspic from tasting merely fatty.
- "Green pickles"Small sour gherkins or cornichons, sliced or fanned, not sweet pickles. With the beetroot and the separated egg white and yolk they form the decorated bottom layer, which becomes the top when the mould is turned out.
- Setting"Pack in ice or stand in a cool place" means the refrigerator. Each layer needs to be fully firm before the next is poured, and the added jelly should be cool and syrupy rather than hot, or it will melt what is beneath it. Allow at least six hours, better overnight, for the finished mould.
- UnmouldingTepid water means a few seconds only. A long dip melts the decorated surface into a smear.
- YieldThe recipe gives no mould size, so treat any number as approximate; a whole goose sliced thin and set in jelly will stretch to a dozen or so portions as a cold first course or buffet dish. Cut with a knife dipped in hot water and serve within two days, keeping it refrigerated until the moment it goes to the table.
Aspic work was one of the visible skills of a nineteenth-century professional kitchen: cold moulded dishes could be built the day before, held on ice, and sent out looking architectural at a moment's notice for banquets and late suppers. Before commercial powdered gelatin was cheap and reliable, clear jellies generally began with calves' feet or pig's trotters simmered down for their collagen, which is why the recipe opens with a task that has nothing to do with goose. The decorated bottom layer, poured first and revealed last, belongs to the French tradition of *chaud-froid* and *gelée* work that reached American hotel kitchens by way of the nineteenth-century French repertoire. Goose was largely a cold-weather bird in American markets, and a whole one stretched a long way when sliced thin and suspended in jelly.