Savoury Jellies or Aspics

Jellies are to cold cookery what consommés and stock are to hot. If anything, the former are perhaps more important, for a cold entrée—however perfect it may be in itself—is nothing without its accompanying jelly.

In the recipes which I give hereafter I have made a point of showing how melting jellies may be obtained, i.e., served in a sauce-boat simultaneously with the cold comestible, or actually poured over it when the latter lies in a deep dish—a common custom nowadays.

This method of serving cold entrées, which I inaugurated at the Savoy Hotel with the “Suprême de Volaille Jeannette,” is the only one which allows of serving a jelly in a state of absolute perfection.

Nevertheless, if a more solid jelly were required, either for the decking of cold dishes or for a moulded entrée, there need only be added to the following formulæ a few gelatine leaves—more or less—according to the required firmness of the jelly.

But it should not be forgotten that the greater the viscosity of the jelly the less value will the same possess.

The various uses of jellies are dealt with in Part II. of this work, where the formulæ of their divers accompanying dishes will also appear.