INTRODUCTION & HISTORY
Aspic, is savory meat gelatin made from consomme, clarified stock, or bone broth. It gets its jiggly texture when the consomme cools.
• Origins: Around since the late 1300s
• Other Names: Aspic jelly or aspic gelee
• Varieties: To make it vegetarian, avoid using gelatin.
• While its most recent American heyday came to an end during the early 1960s, aspic has maintained its popularity in Russia and the countries of the former Eastern bloc, where it’s regarded as a winter treat. Called kholodets, this meat-based aspic is made with pigs’ feet and bones and often served with horseradish and vodka.
• Closer to home, tomato aspic is no stranger to those living well south of the Mason, Dixon line.
• Aspic is essentially a thickened meat broth that turns into jelly when cooled. In France, it is known as chaud froid which means “hot cold” in French.
• This refers to foods that are prepared hot and served cold. Aspic was initially used
for meat and poultry dishes. The meat sauce adds both moisture and flavor to foods and the gelatin consistency
keeps the meat from being spoiled, by keeping out air and bacteria.
CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD ASPIC JELLY
• FLAVOUR: it should be intense enough. It should not be so strong so that it makes the flavour of the main ingredients.
• TOOTH: is the density or elasticity of the jelly. The jelly should be firm enough, yet it should melt in the mouth.
• CLARITY: aspic jelly should be crystal clear.
• COLOR: the range of the color should be from rich amber to brown as in the case of the game aspic, to white or transparent as for fish aspic jelly.
