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Macedoine of Fruit and Nuts
Make orange, lemon or wine jelly. Let a few spoonfuls become "set" in the bottom of a mould. Arrange upon this a design (if liked) with slices of bananas and blanched almonds, halved. Cover with jelly; add figs and dates cut in small pieces, and slices of blanched almonds alternately with jelly until the mould is filled. Serve, surrounded with a wreath of whipped cream, sweetened and flavored.
A layered gelatin mould, built in stages so the fruit and nuts stay suspended rather than floating or sinking. The whole thing depends on patience between layers.
- The hinge: set each layer before adding the nextEach addition of jelly must be nearly set — thickened to raw egg white — before more fruit goes in, or the pieces drift and the design collapses. Chill the mould 15-20 minutes between layers, and keep the reserve jelly liquid but cool, not hot, so it does not melt what is already set.
- Making the jellyThe recipe simply says to make orange, lemon or wine jelly, leaving the method to a jelly recipe elsewhere; in practice that means gelatin, sugar and juice. One envelope of modern powdered gelatin (about 2¼ teaspoons) sets 2 cups of liquid firmly enough to unmould, and for a layered mould of this kind you want the firmer end, so do not stretch it. A mould of about a quart suits the quantities here.
- Wine jellyPeriod wine jellies were generally sweetened water or juice with a proportion of sherry, Madeira or claret and lemon, the wine usually stirred in off the heat so the alcohol largely remains. Recipes vary a good deal in how much wine they carry.
- Blanched almondsBlanching means pouring boiling water over shelled almonds, standing a minute, then slipping off the skins. Buy them already blanched if you prefer; slivered almonds work for the sliced layers.
- Fruit that will not setStick to what is named. Fresh pineapple, kiwi, papaya and fresh figs contain enzymes that digest gelatin and leave the mould soupy — dried figs, as called for here, are no problem, but fresh ones are.
- BananasSlice them at the last moment and dip the slices in lemon juice, or the design at the bottom of the mould will brown where it shows.
- UnmouldingChill at least four hours, preferably overnight. Dip the mould in warm water for a few seconds, loosen the edge with a fingertip, and invert onto a wetted plate so you can slide the jelly into position.
- Yield and the creamA quart mould serves six to eight. The "wreath" is whipped cream piped or spooned in a ring around the base — sweeten lightly and flavour with vanilla, sherry or a little grated orange rind.
Macédoine is French kitchen shorthand for a mixture of things cut small — usually diced vegetables, but equally a medley of fruit — and the name is traditionally traced to the mixed peoples of Alexander's Macedonian empire, a piece of culinary etymology that is repeated everywhere and documented nowhere. It is very much of its moment: commercial gelatin was increasingly available alongside the long labour of boiling calves' feet for stock, and moulded jellies became the showpiece a middle-class household could produce without a professional cook. The choice of fillings also marks the period's imports — bananas, dates, figs and almonds all arrived by steamship and rail, and setting them in a clear jelly where every piece could be admired was the point of the dish as much as the flavour.