• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

The best aspic is a well-flavored, savory jelly made from clarified stock. Clarified stock will set in the refrigerator, but it is not quite firm enough to remain solid at room temperature or use in molds, so extra gelatin is added. Setting layers of cooked seafood and vegetables in molds yields pretty and delicious results, but that is too fussy for me. I prefer to make this cold appetizer based on a dish from Australian cook and food writer Stephanie Alexander. The idea is to turn each soup bowl into a tidal pool; the selection of ingredients is up to you. Cooked shrimp, cooked baby clams in the shell, chunks of cooked fish, for example—keep in mind it is a jellied soup with garnish, so choose only three or four things for each bowl—plus cooked seaweed, if you can find it. If you can’t, use blanched shredded green onion or blanched chives. Only a small amount of gelatin is added to the consommé. This is a perfect cold dish for a hot summer night.

1. Pour ¼ cup (60 ml) water into a small custard cup and sprinkle over 2 teaspoons of gelatin. Leave for 3 minutes so the gelatin can soften. Meanwhile, warm 5 cups (1.25 1) Fish Consommé (page 172) in a saucepan so that it liquefies.

2. Bring 1 inch (2.5 cm) of water to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from the heat, place the custard cup in the hot water, and leave the gelatin to melt. Once it is transparent, stir it into the warm consommé. Pour this mixture into a large glass measuring cup.

3. Pour a thin layer of consommé, about ¼ cup (60 ml), into each of six shallow soup bowls, and refrigerate until almost set but still sticky. Refrigerate the remaining consommé.

4. Remove the bowls from the refrigerator and arrange your choice of ingredients on top; you can dip them into the consommé in the measuring cup to help them stick. Then refrigerate the bowls and the consommé again.

5. When the remaining consommé is very cold and beginning to set, remove it and the bowls from the refrigerator and spoon in the jelling consommé to cover the seafood and seaweed. This will give you an uneven surface like a tidal pool. Refrigerate for up to 3 hours.

6. Remove the soup bowls from the refrigerator 30 minutes before serving, so the jelly can soften.

Variation

ο To try making a mold, increase the gelatin to 1 tablespoon to start. Place ¼ cup (60 ml) of the consommé in a small mold or custard cup and refrigerate until set. Unmold to see if it holds its form (the set of the final consommé will depend on the amount of gelatin released by the fish bones). If it holds its shape you can proceed to make molds; if it doesn’t, add extra gelatin ¼ teaspoon at a time until you obtain the right set (you want the mold to support itself but not be rubbery).

ο Pour a thin layer of consommé into six 1 cup (250 ml) molds. Refrigerate until almost set but still sticky. Refrigerate the remaining consommé.

ο Remove the molds from the refrigerator and place small pieces of cooked fish or shellfish on top; you can dip them into the consommé in the measuring cup to help them stick. Then refrigerate the bowls and the consommé again.

ο When the remaining consommé is very cold, thick but still liquid, remove it and the molds from the refrigerator and pour in the consommé to cover the fish and seafood and fill the molds. Refrigerate until set.

ο Unmold onto plates and serve with a salad.

FISH BONE SUPERSTITIONS

Fish scales serve their owners well but are messy and annoying for the rest of us. However, some people believe that they are a portent of money. Each New Year’s Eve, we continue my husband’s family tradition of placing a few (well washed, of course) fish scales in our wallets. I can’t promise this works, but I’m yet to be reduced to singing for my supper. The scales, however, probably bring me more embarrassment than cash. I usually forget about them and then in mid-January, I have to explain why my paper money has fish scales stuck to it.

Many fishermen are superstitious about where and when to catch fish. Before the technology of sonar detectors,