A Traditional Scottish Recipe for Calves' Feet Jelly

Although surprising to the modern ear, calves' feet jelly - prepared as it is here with sugar and lemon juice - would have been eaten as a sweet.
The purpose of the calves' feet is not to pass a meaty flavour to the dish but is to act as a source of gelatin to set the jelly.

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Calves' Feet Jelly Ingredients

Four calves' feet
10 pints (5 and a half litres) of water
Two tablespoons of white sugar
Thin peel from two lemons
Juice from 5 lemons
Half a bottle of Madeira or Sherry
Six egg whites well whisked
Six egg shells crushed
Allspice, cinnamon and cloves to taste

Calves' Feet Jelly Cooking Method

Prepare this meal the day before it is to be eaten.

Clean and slit the calves-feet to allow the gelatine to be more easily released.

Boil the feet gently in five quarts of water until the volume of the liquid is halved.

Strain the liquid and allow it to cool.

When the jelly liquid is cool, remove the fat layer from its top.

Remove the sediment from the bottom of the liquid.

Add the white sugar, lemon peel, lemon juice, Madeira/Sherry, whisked egg whites, egg shells, allspice, cinnamon and cloves to the jelly liquid and stir well.

Now heat the liquid gently - do not stir after applying heat.

Bring the liquid to the boil and simmer gently for 15 minutes.

Add half a pint (280 ml) of cold water and allow to come back to the boil for 5 minutes.

If you lack confidence that your jelly will set properly, you could add a little extra gelatine at this stage.

Pour the jelly into fine muslin cloth and strain to clear.

Cool in the fridge in appropriate moulds and serve.