Port and Claret Jelly
Port or Wine Jelly seems to have been quite a favourite during the 1930s. I found
it on several menus from this period. Port Wine Jelly was served as the alternative
to Soufflé Rothschild at a Farewell Dinner on the Ausonia in 1935. Wine Jelly appeared
on the Dinner Menu on the Strathmore on 27 January 1938. Which one should I feature? I
compromised; the recipe below uses both port and claret. It will taste good with
any freshly opened light red wine. Don't use a bottle that has been sitting around. If
you use a wine with some age, the final taste will be special indeed.
Ingredients
425
ml / 15 fl oz / 2 cups of water
225g / 8 oz / 1 cup caster sugar
2 tablespoons of redcurrant
jelly
Stick of cinnamon
Thinly sliced peel and juice of 2 lemons
25g / 1 oz / 1 tablespoon
of gelatine
425 ml / 15 fl oz / 2 cups claret
300 ml / 10 fl oz / 1¼ cups ruby port
Single
cream to serve (optional)
Method
Combine the water, sugar, redcurrant jelly, cinnamon
stick, lemon juice and peel in a saucepan large enough to take all ingredients. Bring
to the boil.
Make a paste with the gelatine and a little of the claret. Add to
the mixture and stir gently until you are sure all the gelatine has dissolved. Take
off the heat. Then stir in the rest of the claret and the port.
Let the mixture
cool until lukewarm, the strain it into small glasses to set and chill until required. A
spoonful of single cream on top of the jelly is an added option.
From: The Captain's
Table: Life and Dining on the Great Ocean Liners
by Sarah Edington
National Maritime
Museum Publishing
ISBN 0948065575