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Jellies/Jams To Make Jelly From Feet

to make jelly from feet
(from The Virginia House-wife, by Mary Randolph, 1825)

Ingredients:
4 calfs' feet​
1 quart of white wine​
6 fresh lemons​
1 1/2 pounds of powdered loaf sugar​
cinnamon​
mace​
8 eggs​

Instructions:
Boil four calf's feet that have been nicely cleaned, and the hoofs taken off; when the feet are boiled to pieces, strain the liquor through a colander, and when cold, take all the grease off, and put the jelly in a skillet, leaving the dregs which will be at the bottom. There should be from four feet, about two quarts of jelly: pour into it one quart of white wine, the juice of six fresh lemons strained from the seeds, one pound and a half of powdered loaf sugar, a little pounded cinnamon and mace, and the rind thinly pared from two of the lemons; wash eight eggs very clean, whip up the whites to a froth, crush the shells and put with them, mix it with the jelly, set it on the fire, stir it occasionally till the jelly is melted, but do not touch it afterwards. When it has boiled till it looks quite clear on one side, and the dross accumulates on the other, take off carefully the thickest part of the dross, and pour the jelly in the bag; put back what runs through, until it becomes quite transparent - then set a pitcher under the bag, and put a cover all over to keep out the dust: the jelly looks much prettier when it is broken to fill the glasses. The bag should be made of cotton or linen, and be suspended in a frame made for the purpose. The feet of hogs make the palest coloured jelly; those of sheep are a beautiful amber-colour, when prepared.​


This is one of the ways they made Jelly in 19th Century...

I think I will leave this jelly to the cooks of the past.
 
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The Shakers made this a lot. As stated in "The Shaker Cook Book Not By Bread Alone" by Caroline B. Piercy: "Jelly (referring to Calfs' Foot Jelly), of this kind is most useful in the diet of the aged and for children, let alone the sick room. No kitchen should be without it. An endless variety of dishes can be concocted from this base: cooked meats, fish, vegetables, fruits and even creamed or grated cheese can be added in many combinations which make attractive and easily eaten nutriment,"

Today we would use packaged gelatin but the early Shakers and other cooks of 1800s made their own.
 
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This is, er, interesting! And I even know where I could get calves' feet (that's not something you get to say very often), but I don't think I'll be trying this one. Can't get past the "ew!" factor!:smile:
 
I wanted to say that Calfs' is the way that word was spelled in the original recipe and by the Shakers. I had hoped no one thought I had misspelled it.

No, it makes perfect sense to me, since spelling was often an arbitrary thing back then. :smile: I'm the one who used to teach Shakespeare (which is about 300 years before that) and always showed the kids all the different ways Shakespeare himself spelled his own name!
 
I just have to say I couldn't help but think of chicken feet! :chicken: When I was in San Francisco back in the day, these fat feet were always hanging in the shop windows in Chinatown and they made the best soup stock ever. But now they can't be sold in the United States for health reasons although they are still enjoyed in many different cuisines around the world.
 
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