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Jellied Shrimp Salad
Prepare a French dressing and with it thoroughly sprinkle the prepared shrimps, then set aside for at least two hours, that they may become thoroughly impregnated with the dressing. Turn them through several times, and if any of the liquid can be seen in the bowl, drain them before molding. Make an unsweetened lemon jelly, seasoning with salt, pepper, a few drops of onion juice and a tablespoonful of tarragon vinegar to each half pint. In a large mould or in individual ones, arrange some of the shrimps on the bottom and sides, pour in just enough of the liquid jelly to hold them, then stand on ice or in a cold place until set. Add more of the shrimps and jelly, and put away again, and so on until the moulds are filled. Put each individual mould on a bed of lettuce and garnish with mayonnaise whitened by the addition of stiff whipped cream, passing an extra quantity separately.
A moulded aspic of the sort that filled the salad chapter of every turn-of-the-century book. The work is all in the layering, and the recipe assumes you know what "lemon jelly" meant to a cook with a box of granulated gelatine.
- Unsweetened lemon jellyThis is savoury aspic, not dessert jelly: plain gelatine softened in cold water, dissolved in hot water with lemon juice, then seasoned. Do not substitute a lemon dessert gelatine, which is sugared and will ruin the dish.
- Gelatine proportionsThe original gives none. A modern envelope of powdered gelatine (1/4 oz, about 2 1/4 tsp) is sold as setting 2 cups of liquid; for something that will stand up out of a mould, use an envelope to about 1 1/2 cups. Bloom it in a few tablespoons of cold liquid for five minutes before dissolving.
- Half a pintOne cup in American measure (a British half-pint is 10 fl oz). The seasoning ratio is therefore about a tablespoon of tarragon vinegar, a few drops of onion juice, salt and pepper per cup of jelly — taste it warm, since chilling mutes the seasoning.
- Prepared shrimpsCooked, shelled and deveined. Small or medium shrimp mould far better than jumbo, which sit awkwardly against the sides and slice badly.
- The two-hour marinadeMarinate the dressed shrimp in the refrigerator, not on the counter. Then drain them properly: oil clinging to the shrimp is what keeps aspic from clinging to them, and a wet layer will make a slick seam that splits when you unmould.
- Onion juiceGrate a piece of onion on the fine side of a box grater and use the liquid that collects. Pulp will cloud the jelly.
- Layering is the hingeEach layer of jelly must be fully set before the next is added, and the next must be cool and syrupy rather than hot, or it melts the layer beneath and the shrimp drift. Reckon 20-30 minutes in the refrigerator per layer, and two to three hours for the finished mould.
- UnmouldingDip the mould to its rim in warm — not hot — water for five to ten seconds, loosen the edge with a fingertip, and invert onto the lettuce. Rinsing the mould with cold water before filling also helps it release.
- Yield and dressingRoughly 1 lb of cooked shrimp and 3 cups of jelly should fill six individual moulds. The garnish is mayonnaise lightened with whipped cream — the recipe asks only for enough to whiten it — folded in just before serving; it deflates if made far ahead.
Moulded savoury jellies were a showpiece of the American salad course from the 1890s through the 1920s, and they owe much of their popularity to granulated gelatine, which became widely available in packets in the closing decades of the nineteenth century and spared cooks the boiling of calves' feet or clarifying of isinglass for every aspic. Once a reliable setting powder could be bought by the box, the decorative copper and tin moulds already in kitchen use found a new application, and books of this period are thick with jellied chicken, jellied tongue and jellied shellfish. Canned shrimp was also on the market by this date, which put a coastal ingredient within easier reach of inland households. The mayonnaise-and-whipped-cream garnish here is a period signature, sometimes listed separately as cream mayonnaise, and it recurs in the salad chapters of the era on everything from fruit to lobster.