GAME, SET, MATCH
A MUCH-LOVED CHILDHOOD DESSERT MAKES STEVE CUMPER GO WOBBLY AT THE KNEES.
Country Cook Steve Cumper gets nostalgic with a delicious raspberry jelly recipe.
ONE OF THE first things I learned to ‘cook’ as a child was jelly. I’m not alone here — like many Australian children of a certain age I can still recite the sunny Aeroplane jelly song. This jaunty jingle still manages to prick up my ears, the same way the lethargic mechanical circus music favoured by Mr Whippy sends me darting to the window for a glimpse of the ice-cream van.
Drawn to its lurid colours, fascinated by its wobbly constitution, one could reasonably assume jelly was concocted in a bubbling cauldron by a coven of Hansel and Gretel witches to lure children. But you’d be wrong.
Jelly has been around for a couple of hundred years and was originally designed for adult palates. It made its way down to us from the high tables of Europe, where impressive trembling edifices were considered a symbol of wealth due to the skill and time they took to prepare.
In those days, jelly was also a savoury dish. One could enjoy a scoop of jellied grouse stock next to a spoon of pineapple jelly at the all-you-can-eat 18th-century buffet. Think jelly and animals should never share a plate?
It’s at this point I should advise that gelatine — the main ingredient of most jellies — is rendered collagen from animal skin and bones. Too much information? Fortunately, non-meat-eaters can still make their jelly — and eat it too — by using agar, derived from seaweed.
When you start looking, jelly is everywhere in the kitchen. For instance, ever roasted a chook and left the remains in the tray to cool and notice the congealed juice at its edges? Jelly. Or simmer some quinces in sugar and lemon for a few hours and find the syrup sets once cool. Also jelly. That panna cotta you enjoyed at a fancy restaurant? Yep, jelly.
Jelly has been layered in trifles betwixt sponge and lurking in terrines for quite a while now. It’s even become quite sexy in England where Heston Blumenthal once created an X-rated vibrating jelly and Nigella Lawson makes it with booze. However, this is also the land that made jellied eels a national dish, which are about as sensual as a slap in the face with a cold fish. Saying that, I recently browsed a posh cookery shop and was amazed at all the copper fish jelly moulds for sale. Have I missed something? Is fish jelly making a comeback? Cats of the world will meow in delight!
Fish jelly aside, here I’ve created a homage of sorts to that most famous of desserts created in honour of Dame Nellie Melba. I’ve paired one of summer’s best stone fruits with a raspberry jelly to show it’s not so hard to make from scratch. I’ve also used the vego-friendly agar so no-one will chuck a wobbly about eating it!
Steve Cumper is a chef and funnyman who lives in Tasmania and dreams of one day owning a fleet of holiday vans called Wicked Cumpers.
POACHED PEACHES IN RASPBERRY JELLY Serves 4
2 cups caster sugar
1 vanilla bean, split
4 peaches, halved, stone removed 1½ cups pure cream
⅓ cup icing sugar mixture
1 teaspoon vanilla essence mint leaves and extra fresh raspberries,
to garnish
RASPBERRY JELLY
2 cups port
2 cups caster sugar
1 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 teaspoon agar*
4 x 125g punnets raspberries
Place 2 cups sugar, 2 cups water and vanilla bean in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar dissolves and mixture comes to boil. Add peaches and cook for 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and cool peaches in syrup. When cool, use a slotted spoon to transfer peaches to a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator to chill.
To make jelly, place port, sugar, lemon juice, vanilla essence and agar in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar dissolves and mixture comes to boil. Add raspberries and simmer for 10 minutes or until softened. Whisk to break up raspberries. Remove from heat and cool.
Remove skins from peach halves and cut into wedges. Place wedges into base of 4 glass serving dishes. Strain cooled jelly mixture into a large jug and gently pour over peaches. Place in refrigerator overnight to set.
Whip cream, icing sugar and vanilla essence in a bowl until soft peaks form. Serve jellies topped with cream, mint and extra raspberries.
* Available at health food stores.