I can't believe that I never ate tomato aspic as a child growing up in the South. My mother never made it and I don't remember my aunts ever making it although I was such a picky eater back then that I might have seen it at family dinners on the farm and passed it up.
Those were the days I would eat canned corn but never fresh. What sacrilege was that? No corn on the cob, salted and dripping with butter? Not even Mama's fried corn, otherwise known as creamed corn outside the South?
And no savory Southern Jelly known as Tomato Aspic until the lovely Nathalie Dupree introduced me to it in her cookbook, Southern Memories.
"A word on aspics.
They are meant to cool and refresh
and slide down one's throat...
We love them and they have never gone
out of style."
Nathalie Dupree
I scribbled notes and additions in the margins of this book that is one of my favorite cookbooks until it was barely readable. So now I keep a typewritten copy in it to pull out.
Nathalie Dupree's Tomato Aspic
plus my changes:
1. Soak 4 envelopes of plain gelatin in 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice and let sit for 10 minutes.
2. Heat a large bottle of V-8 juice in pot and bring to simmer. Add seasonings: 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, 2 tablespoons horseradish, 1/4 teaspoon hot sauce, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne, 1 teaspoon seasoned salt, and 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar.
3. Stir in lemon juice/gelatin mixture until dissolved. [I plop it whole into the hot juice mixture and keep stirring. Don't try to mash or separate the gel blob into pieces or it won't dissolve. If there are any little pieces of gel still in the mixture, just dip them out.
4. Pour into an oiled copper mold or into a large Pyrex casserole dish and chill till set. Serve with dressing.
Dressing:
Mix 2 cups mayonnaise with juice of 2 lemons, or less if you prefer, and stir till smooth. Stir in a tablespoon of good olive oil. Stir in 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil and fresh ground black pepper. [RH eats tomato aspic just for the dressing.]
I always think of our daughter Christy when I make tomato aspic and wish I could air mail her some to Florida. And I always send some to her big brother who loves it too.
This recipe is for you, Gurn, when Mom's not here to make it someday. Zack and Defee, I know you two would rather have your front teeth pulled than eat aspic.
You don't know what you're missing!
