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Aspic Jelly
One quart of water, one package of gelatine, one slice each of carrot, onion, and celery cut thin, two cloves, a tiny bit of mace, one bay leaf, one sprig of parsley, one small leaf of sage, two tablespoonfuls of tarragon vinegar, one tablespoonful of lemon juice, two tablespoonfuls of sherry wine, one tablespoonful of beef extract, one teaspoonful of salt, one-quarter teaspoonful of pepper corns. Soak the gelatine in half pint of cold water. Put the spice, herbs, vegetables, salt and pepper into a stewpan, with a pint and a half of cold water. Let the pan stand on the back part of the range for two hours; then draw it forward to a hotter place, and when the liquid has reached the boiling point, add the gelatine, lemon juice, extract of meat and sherry. Take from the fire and strain through a flannel bag. Cool in any form you please. Aspic jelly may be used for all boned meats or fish that are served in jelly, or for an ornamental and savory border for cold meats, game, fish or salads.
A savoury gelatine set for cold work: coating boned meats, lining moulds, or cutting into chopped garnish for a platter. Two points govern the result — how much gelatine a "package" meant, and keeping the heat low enough that the jelly stays clear.
- "One package of gelatine"Around 1900 a box of granulated gelatine is usually reckoned at about one ounce, roughly the equivalent of four of the quarter-ounce envelopes sold today, though sizes varied by maker. Use four envelopes for a quart if you want a jelly firm enough to unmould and slice; three gives a softer set suited to spooning over cold meat.
- The water adds up exactlyHalf a pint soaks the gelatine and a pint and a half goes into the pan — one quart in all. Some of the pan liquid evaporates during the long steep, so top the strained infusion back up to a pint and a half with water before adding the gelatine if you want a reliable set.
- "The back part of the range"A slow steep well below a simmer. On a modern burner use the lowest setting with the lid ajar, or hold the pan in a low oven (around 200F) for the two hours. Boiling the vegetables and herbs hard muddies both the flavour and the clarity.
- Do not boil after the gelatine goes inThe liquid is brought to boiling point first, then the gelatine, lemon, extract and sherry are added and the pan comes off the heat. Gelatine held at a rolling boil loses setting strength, and the alcohol and acid should stay bright rather than cook away.
- Beef extractThis is Liebig- or Bovril-type meat extract, a dark salty paste. A tablespoon of concentrated beef base is the nearest thing; note that the recipe salts the infusion at the outset, so hold back part of the teaspoon and taste once the extract has gone in, since modern bases run saltier than the original.
- StrainingA flannel jelly bag can be replaced with a sieve lined with four layers of damp cheesecloth. Let it drip on its own — squeezing forces sediment through and clouds the jelly.
- Setting and testingChill at least four hours, overnight for a mould. Test early by putting a tablespoon of the hot liquid on a cold saucer in the refrigerator for ten minutes; if it is slack, whisk in another softened envelope while the batch is still warm.
- YieldAbout one quart, enough to line and fill a one-quart mould, or to glaze and garnish a large platter of cold meat or fish.
Aspic belongs to the cold larder of nineteenth-century professional cookery, where boned poultry, galantines and fish in chaud-froid were finished with a clear savoury jelly and set out on a buffet. Traditionally that jelly came from calves' feet or a long-simmered veal stock, clarified with egg white — a day's work. Packaged granulated gelatine, sold in American groceries by the later nineteenth century, collapsed the process into an afternoon, and recipes like this one substitute a herb-and-vegetable infusion sharpened with tarragon vinegar, lemon and sherry for the body a real stock would have given. It is a sign of the period's fondness for the cold table: chopped aspic as a garnish was the sort of thing set out for a supper, a reception or a picnic hamper.