Making 250 Year Old Jelly from Calf Feet

Today I'm making 'Eggs and Bacon in Flummery' from Elizabeth Raffald's 1769 Experienced English Housekeeper.
Step one is to make jelly from calf feet - yes, really. Boiling the feet for hours extracts the gelatin and makes a very rich, solid jelly which becomes the base for the flummery.
Step two is to make the flummery from the calf foot jelly by adding almonds, cream and colouring.
But Elizabeth Raffald didn't stop there! Not content with simple creamy foot jelly, she shapes her flummery so it appears to be a plate of delicious bacon and eggs, thereby delighting (and confusing) her dinner guests.
Will it set? Will it look as Raffald imagined and - the big question - will it taste of feet or not? Join me as I find out...
Head over to my blog The Past is a Foreign Pantry for lots more historical foodie recreations.
thepastisafore...

[@cristinap9825]

The prep and cooking of this recipe was so totally foreign to me, I was awe-struck. The information and presentation is so enjoyable and educational. I feel so lucky to have found your channel. Thank you.

[@thepastisaforeignpantry5218]

Thank you so much! It was a lot of effort for sure, but actually pretty fun too!

[@gnothisauton2116]

Absolutely love the context and history you add to all your videos. This must have been a lot of work. You have a great stage presence and I wish you were still making videos.

[@Tinkering4Time]

Such a cheeky recipe.

[@tubbydammer]

There is so much work in producing this that it must have been a treat reserved for the most special occasions. I can't imagine many people making this for themselves. Of course, if there were servants to do all the complicated and difficult work...

[@thepastisaforeignpantry5218]

Flummery shaped like other things, or jelly in big fancy moulds would definitely have been for special occasions. But ordinary plain calf's foot jelly was often given to invalids to help them feel better (presumably the invalids weren't told about the cooking process!) By the 1800s preproduced gelatin was available which slowly put a stop to the traditional method, although I imagine getting hold of calf feet was easier and cheaper then getting hold of packet gelatin at first (and more useful to a family on a budget as the resulting jelly could be used in stocks/soups etc too). Anyway, you're completely right that it involves a lot of effort so although I'm pleased to have tried it once, I won't be doing this again unless absolutely necessary!

[@pablocamargo8744]

This channel looks interesting.... Subscribed ✌️✌️

[@MonksModernMedievalCuisine]

What a triumph! Brilliant video. So impressed by the result.

[@thepastisaforeignpantry5218]

Thank you 😊 it turned out rather more successfully than I could have hoped for!

[@MonksModernMedievalCuisine]

@@thepastisaforeignpantry5218 Where did you get your calf's feet from?

[@thepastisaforeignpantry5218]

In the end I was able to get some (quite randomly/one off) locally, but had already found some online which looked quite good at Kimbers Farm Shop. I think they were veal feet specifically, which might change whether you want them or not (I belive their veal is rose veal, though). www.kimbersfarmshop.co.uk/

[@MonksModernMedievalCuisine]

@@thepastisaforeignpantry5218 Thanks. I think all British veal is rose veal because UK has strict rules on veal production.

[@milanetc4865]

Interesting. "Serve to your delighted and confused guests" - ha ha ha!

[@thepastisaforeignpantry5218]

Can you imagine being served this for the 1st time ever?!

[@thecupthatcheers9763]

Wow, you really did well! A few years ago I tried to do a similar calves' foot jelly dish, but I messed it up in the boiling stage by accidentally letting the calves' feet boil dry, and they got scorched so badly that I had to throw them out. Of course, I had seen the calves' feet for the first time, in my local grocery store, only the week before; there weren't any more when I went back, so I never got a chance to try it again!

[@thepastisaforeignpantry5218]

Thank you! Your calves feet must have been boiling for ages! I hope you get to have another go, it was really satisfying to see the jelly turn out so firm in the end. Thank you so much for watching!

[@moniquem783]

This was brilliant! I’ve always wanted to do this. I’ve seen a few videos on it and this one is absolutely the best. The best result, but also the best instructions so that I could easily follow it if I can find calves feet. I have often wondered though, why calves feet? Surely the cow or the bull has as much gelatine in their feet as their baby does. Maybe any feet would work (even pig’s trotters are full of gelatine) but they were butchering a calf each year for rennet anyway so would have used everything. Today it would probably be a lot easier to get cow’s feet I think.

[@thepastisaforeignpantry5218]

Thank you! That's so nice to hear. I think you're spot on about using up every part of the animal, and I suppose that if the calf was already slaughtered then it made sense to use their feet, rather than kill a full grown animal like a bull. Although I do also think there may have been an element of "medicine" involved, in that calf foot jelly is often found in invalid cookery too, and I wonder if calf feet, as a baby animal, were seen as more easily digestible and gentle on the stomach than a full grown animal?

[@moniquem783]

@@thepastisaforeignpantry5218 ahhh, yes you’re probably right. If you consider the thinking behind most of their medical ideas that would make a lot of sense to them. Funnily enough, last night as I was just about to fall asleep I clicked on a video about using herbs as medicine. It was very basic, just talking about 5 herbs, but it’s someone I watch often and I know she has a calm voice so thought I could go to sleep with that on. She talked about the “energetics” of each herb and this one is hot and dry so you take it when you have a cold etc. It’s the balancing of humours! Still in use!

[@ArmchairAmbience]

Ellie eats...1950s?

[@thepastisaforeignpantry5218]

Hello! It's coming, thank you for being so patient! Each video in the Ellie Eats... series takes a long time so we thought we'd give ourself a couple of weeks off and make 2 short videos when we reached the half way point (1940s). The 1950s episode is in production and will be ready in about 2 weeks.

[@ArmchairAmbience]

@@thepastisaforeignpantry5218 Awesome! I am looking forward to it, I have been re-watching the Supersizers Go series again to get my fix

[@bertieb9510]

Those would make Heston proud. Congratulations for going the whole hog (whole calf?) and making the gelatin from scratch. Never tried that myself although I have done the same thing from time to time with pigs feet to make a savory terrine of some kind or pork pies.

[@thepastisaforeignpantry5218]

Thank you! I've never tried it with pigs feet but you can't beat a proper home made pie.