cold and on the point of coagulating, as this is the only means of
preserving all the aroma of the wine.
Finally, in certain cases, a special flavour may be obtained by the use
of crayfish, which are cooked, as for bisque, then pounded, and added
to the fish stock No. 11 ten minutes before straining it. A proportion
of four little crayfish à bisque per quart of aspic is sufficient to
secure an excellent aroma.
162—FISH ASPIC WITH RED WINE
This aspic stock is the _Court-bouillon_ with red wine No. 165, which
has served in cooking the fish for which the aspic is intended; this
fish is generally either trout or salmon; sometimes also, but less
commonly, a carp or a pike.
This stock must first of all have its grease thoroughly removed; it
should then be poured carefully away, reduced if necessary, and the
required quantity of gelatine added. This cannot be easily determined,
as all gelatines are not alike, and the stock may have contracted a
certain consistence from its contact with the fish. One can, therefore,
only be guided by testing small quantities cooled in ice, but care
should be taken that the aspic be not too firm.
The clarification of this aspic is generally made with white of egg
in the proportion of one white per quart. The white, half-whisked,
is added to the cold stock, and the latter is put over an open fire
and stirred with a spatula. As soon as it boils, the aspic is poured
through a serviette fixed on to the legs of an overturned stool. The
first drippings of the fluid are put back on to the serviette if they
do not seem clear, and this operation is repeated until the required
clearness is obtained.
It almost invariably happens that, either during the cooking of the
fish or during the clarification, the wine loses its colour through the
precipitation of the colouring elements derived from the tannin.
The only way of overcoming this difficulty is to add a few drops of
liquid carmine or vegetable red; but, in any case, it is well to
remember that the colour of red-wine aspic must never be deeper than a
sombre pink.