Are We Ready for an Aspic Comeback? Meat jelly is having a moment.

food and wine ^

[mylife]

Maison Nico is a new pâtisserie and market in San Francisco's Jackson Square, where delicacies like pâté en croûte, terrine, and brioche feuilletée compete for one's attention. Then again, everything pales in comparison to them. The lacquered, artfully layered half-domes. The aspics. If you're not accustomed to thinking of aspic as an object of desire, chef Nicholas Delaroque aims to change that. "Most people are familiar with pâté, but the aspic is the eye-catcher," he says. "Once people discover it, they really enjoy it."

What makes sense for a Frenchman may not to the average American. Many consider aspic, a savory meat jelly by most definitions, to be a relic of the 1950s. The dish gets its texture from slowly cooked, gelatinous animal or fish parts, which form a broth that can be clarified with egg whites. Occasionally, aspic acts as a layer in pâté or terrine. Most commonly, it is the jelly encasing cubed or shredded meat, vegetables, and sometimes fish or hard-boiled eggs.

In vintage cookbooks, aspic is showcased as a grand centerpiece that gets its shape from an elaborate jello mold. These images often make the rounds as nostalgic memes, and the dish is occasionally mocked on TikTok. Kholodetz, the Eastern European spin on aspic, is the star of a Buzzfeed video called "Americans Try Weird Russian Foods for the First Time." And yet, Delaroque is hardly alone in making aspic bold and beautiful again, as many newly opened restaurants around the U.S. are gearing for the dish's most glamorous comeback yet.

[mylife]

It has to be better than lime jello with mini marshmallows..

[bk1000]

No.

Just....

No.

[Fresh Wind]

Only if it contains larks’ tongues.

[Mr. K]

Is that like ‘head cheese’?

[ClearCase_guy]

Beat me to it

[Mr. K]

Do you mean Lark’s Vomit?

Or crunchy frog?

[ConservativeMind]

Why? Why does this exist?

Who eats Peanut Butter & Meat Jelly sandwiches?

[dynachrome]

King Crimson - Larks’ Tongues in Aspic (1972)

King Crimson, the progressive rock band around Robert Fripp (guitar) and - at that time - Bill Bruford (drums), live on 25.11.1972 at the Beat Club

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhudDa3JAyc

[mylife]

No head cheese?

[outofsalt]

Make
Aspic
Great
Again!

[mylife]

LOL!

[SamAdams76]

I'm thinking that the time is not right for something such as this to be "making a comeback."

Back in the 1970s, when I was growing up, I had aunts that would make these jello mold things and bring them to family functions. Some of us would dutifully take a slice and put it on our plates in order to be polite. Then when nobody was looking, we'd quickly spoon it down the sink or into the trash. No use trying to feed it to the dog under the table, even the dog wouldn't touch it.

[heavy metal]

it looks like it could have a hairball in it...

[Irenic]

I like souse/hog-head cheese.

[mylife]

souse aint my thing but why not?

[outofsalt]

MAGA on a stick!

[Red Badger]

[Red Badger]

GMTA!...................

[Liz]

Mmmmmmm.....I'll go with the exquisite Brioche Feuilletee au Chocolat, sil vous plait.

[OldGoatCPO]

Yep, leave it to the French to give a fancy name to head cheese. Grandmother took old roosters, boiled the meat off, added chicken bullion, salt and pepper, added a pickled relish she canned with chopped veggies, (what ever she had available) added some gelatin poured in a class bread pan and the next day I was in heaven. I am the only one old enough to remember her cooking this so consequently I am the only one who can make a meal out of souse, (head cheese), cheese and homemade bread. Wife likes it so we are happy not to have to share.