| |

Should meat jelly make a comeback? | Ancient Recipes With Sohla



Sohla tackles the wildest recipe yet – an aspic jelly with fish tongues and lips from the earliest known Arabic cookbook, in this episode of Ancient Recipes.

THE RECIPE

Ingredients:
– 2 tablespoons coriander seeds, coarsely ground
– 1 tablespoon dried spikenard
– 5 whole cloves
– 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
– 1 teaspoon whole long pepper
– 6 to 8 large carp heads
– ½ cup white wine vinegar
– 1 small bunch parsley, tied with twine
– 1 3-inch piece galangal, scrubbed & split in half lengthwise
– 1 3-inch piece ginger, scrubbed & split in half lengthwise
– 1 3-inch piece cassia
– 3 small onions, root trimmed & peeled
– 2 teaspoons saffron threads

Process:
1. In a double-layered piece of cheesecloth, combine coriander, spikenard, cloves, black pepper, and long pepper, and wrap in a bundle securing with twine. Wrap parsley together in a bundle and secure with twine.
2. Add carp heads to a large stockpot and cover with water. Add vinegar, parsley, galangal, ginger, cassia, onions, and the bundle of spices.
3. Cover and bring to a simmer over high heat. Reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook, partially covered, until the heads are totally tender – about 1 hour.
4. Use tongs to remove the heads and set aside until cool enough to handle. Strain the stock and discard the solids. Return the stock to the pot.
5. With your fingers, crush the saffron threads into a small bowl. Add ¼ cup of the fish stock and set aside to bloom.
6. Pull the lips and tongues from the fish heads and add to the pot of fish stock.
7. Add the steeped saffron to the pot and gently simmer uncovered until reduced by half.
8. Portion the mixture into a serving bowl and chill until set.

#AncientRecipes

Subscribe for more Ancient Recipes with Sohla and other great The HISTORY Channel shows:
http://histv.co/SubscribeHistoryYT

Learn more about The HISTORY Channel and watch full episodes on our site:
https://history.com

Check out exclusive HISTORY content:
History Newsletter – https://histv.co/newsletter
Website – https://histv.co/History
Facebook – https://histv.co/Facebook
Twitter – https://histv.co/Twitter

Ancient Recipes with Sohla takes the food you know and love and traces it back to its origins. In each episode, Sohla El-Waylly details the surprising history of some of our favorite dishes as she attempts to recreate the original version using historical cooking techniques and ingredients. Along the way, Sohla highlights the differences between the ancient recipe and how we would prepare the modern version today.
http://histv.co/ancientrecipes

Follow Adam Richman as he travels the country and tries the most iconic and forgotten foods of the 1980s. Watch new episodes of Adam Eats the 80s Sundays at 10/9c on The History Channel.

HISTORY® is the leading destination for award-winning original series and specials that connect viewers with history in an informative, immersive, and entertaining manner across all platforms. The network’s all-original programming slate features a roster of hit series, premium documentaries, and scripted event programming.

CREDITS

Host
Sohla El-Waylly

Created By
Brian Huffman

Executive Producers
Sarah Walker
Brian Huffman
Jon Erwin

Executive Producer
Sohla El-Waylly

Co-Producer
John Schlirf

Writers
Jon Erwin
Diana Davis

Historian – Scripts
Ken Albala

Guest
Ken Albala

Post-Production Supervisors
Jon Erwin
John Schlirf

Editor
Aaron Mackof

Colorist
John Schlirf

Mixer
Tim Wagner

Manager, Rights & Clearances
Chris Kim

Executive Creative Director, A+E Networks
Tim Nolan

VP, Marketing Production, A+E Networks
Kate Leonard

VP, Brand Creative, History
Matt Neary

Music Courtesy of
Extreme Music
A+E Signature Tracks

Additional Footage & Photos Courtesy of
Getty Images
Alamy
Pond5
Wikimedia

source

Similar Posts

42 Comments

  1. Growing up in Poland and Germany from the 80s meat and veggie jelly was increcibly popular and absolutely delicious. Karp was sometimes for christmas and trust me it is the most disguisting fish you can eat.

  2. As a child I loved our holiday meal which would feature two jello on the dinner table. My absolute favourite was the green jello with strips in it. I was later Horrified to learn it was lime jello with shredded cabbage floating in it. The other had pineapple, mini marshmallows, coconut, and maybe more cabbage? Or carrot?
    Thank you for sharing the aspic. I don't know if I am that brave!

  3. Sohla, I have my mother's collection of copper molds for summer salad luncheons. These are wonderful for having a meal prepared ahead in the heat of summer. I use unflavored gelatin for salmon, dill, mayonnaise and lemon juice for salmon aspic. Then I use tomato (or V-8 with Tabasco), celery, cucumber, Worcestershire sauce and bitters for a tomato aspic that is reminiscent of a Bloody Mary. Add some celery sticks, good olives and a cheese biscuit. Serve it on nice dishes with a paper doily & your mama's good silver and you have a summer ladies lunch that is a gift of time.

  4. I have always remembered my Great Aunt's pickled beef tongue, it was so good vinegary and delicious not sure what spices she used. I remember maybe vinegar in the water, a cider vinegar?

  5. the fish bladder thing is still sometimes used in wine making. It's used to clarify wines since it binds to compounds that make the wine cloudy. It's more common for winemakers to use milk proteins or gelatin, but fish bladders are still used. That's why not all wines are vegan, or even vegetarian

  6. One of Julia Child's early shows has her cutting up jellied stock to make decorations for some meat dish she made—I remember it being rather like the SNL skit about the chicken. The cutting didn't quite work because the jelly was very slippery. My mother used to make a cranberry gelatin mold at Thanksgiving. I don't know how she did it however.

  7. Aspic was almost always grainy and not strained (no matter how 'good for you' it was supposed to be)… And yes tuna in jello is/was awful in the 50s and 60s as well as now! I can handle jello with fruit/veggies/nuts (waldorf)… but not cheese or meats! My mom would serve the tuna one as a 'light, summer lunch.' Yuck.

  8. Hi Sohla! Great fish lips! 😝😝😝
    The family Haagenson has a old recipe that dates back to the 50’s when “Gammy” would make shrimp aspic for Christmas sometimes thanksgiving.
    It had a yummy V-8 flavor and has plump bay shrimp and celery inside oh! And slices of green olives. Kind of like a shrimp cocktail. They drank Gin and Vodka martinis so it was after cocktails and before Turkey. It seems from what you say is that fish is common in aspic. Well this is shrimp and they also made Crab mold too. More like an tuna mild but way better cause of Crab. Doesn’t it would great? Nobody but my brother and I eat it now 😃😃😂 the girls can’t do the tomato jelly but it’s so good if you have a little horseradish in it too!
    Well, thanks for a trip down memory lane! It wasn’t fishy

  9. Lime Jello with cottage cheese,Mayonaise,canned pineapple bits,+chopped walnuts makes a tasty salad in my opinion… My Grandmother called it "For Goodness Sakes Jello Salad". My wife makes it a few times a year.

  10. Thank you for this respectful exploration of aspics. It seems like most folks think it's hip to dis aspics. If millions of humans eat something for hundreds of years it must be pretty good. Lots of things that are quite nice seem slightly off putting when they are unfamiliar. Try something new to you for heavens sake.

Leave a Reply