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Noyau Jelly
Put one ounce of isinglass into two gills of lukewarm water, and stir over the fire until dissolved. Meanwhile put over the fire one pound of loaf-sugar, the juice of half a lemon and two gills of cold water, and boil without stirring until a thick syrup is formed; mix the syrup and one wineglassful of Noyau liquor with the dissolved isinglass, strain the jelly into a mould set in cold water, and allow it to harden before turning it out. Garnish round with preserved peaches and apricots, alternately, with points of angelica between them.
A late-Victorian moulded liqueur jelly, straightforward once the old units and the fish-based setting agent are translated.
- Gills and wineglassesA gill is half a cup, so two gills is 1 cup; the recipe uses 2 cups of water in total. A wineglassful in this period is about 2 fl oz.
- IsinglassIsinglass is collagen from fish swim bladders, historically sturgeon, sold in sheets or shreds. Powdered gelatin is the modern stand-in (one ounce is four standard envelopes), but modern gelatin is much stronger than old isinglass: an ounce to about two cups of liquid will give a very stiff, rubbery set, so less is usually wanted for a jelly that still needs to unmould cleanly.
- Do not boil the gelatinDo not boil the gelatin hard -- Dissolve it in water that is warm to the touch, and let the sugar syrup cool from the boil before combining. Gelatin held at a rolling boil can lose setting strength, and a weakened jelly may slump when turned out.
- Loaf-sugarSugar was sold as a hard refined cone to be broken up. Granulated sugar is the same thing; one pound is about 2 1/4 cups.
- "A thick syrup"Boil without stirring to about the thread stage, roughly 230F; the recipe gives no temperature, so this is an inference from the description. Cooking much further concentrates the syrup and gives a stiffer, harder set.
- NoyauSold today as crème de noyaux, an almond-flavoured liqueur; many modern bottlings rely on almond or benzaldehyde flavouring rather than pressed stone kernels. Do not attempt a homemade version from peach, cherry or apricot pits, which are cyanogenic.
- AngelicaCandied angelica stem, cut into diamonds or "points." It is a specialty item now; candied citron or thin strips of candied lime peel serve the same decorative purpose.
- Moulding and yieldAbout 2 1/2 cups of jelly, or six small moulds. The recipe sets the mould in cold water; a refrigerator takes four to six hours. Dip the mould briefly in warm water to release.
Noyau is French for the stone or kernel of a fruit, and the liqueur takes its name from the kernels inside peach, apricot and cherry pits that gave it its bitter-almond flavour; Noyau de Poissy, made outside Paris, is the best-known surviving house. Jellies of this kind were showpieces of nineteenth-century cold cookery, where a clear liqueur-flavoured set, garnished with preserved fruit and angelica, displayed a kitchen's command of both clarity and moulding. Isinglass was widely used for such transparent sweets, being clean in flavour and less inclined to cloud, and it was gradually displaced by commercial powdered gelatin. Oscar Tschirky's cookbook, published in 1896, records the Waldorf's repertoire.