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Mousse Froide de Jambon
Created by Chef Juliette
Based on No. 1439, Mousse Froide de Jambon, from Le Guide Culinaire (1907) by Auguste Escoffier
Lean ham, cold Velouté, flowing aspic, and half-beaten cream become a pale, savory mousse with a clean slice. Keep every element cold and the aspic fluid, because temperature is the whole technique.
Main Dishes
French
Dinner Party
Make Ahead
50 min
Active Time
5 min cook•4 hr 55 min total
Yield4 servings
Mousse Froide de Jambon (cold ham mousse) teaches temperature before it teaches anything else. Lean ham, cold Velouté, fluid aspic, and crème à demi-fouettée (half-beaten cream) must meet while the purée is cold and the aspic is still loose. Let either condition slip and the mousse turns grainy or sets in the bowl instead of the mould. When it is right, the slice is pale rose, close and silky, light enough to yield under a fork yet firm enough to stand.
The original kitchen assumed a saucier on staff, a stockpot never off the fire, finished Velouté and clarified aspic waiting in the cold room, and enough hands to pound a pound of ham through a sieve. A salamander has no work in this cold dish. At home, a processor takes over the pounding, a fine sieve keeps the essential refinement, and a one-litre mould or four cassolettes, small straight-sided dishes, replace the banquet mould. The batch is reduced to 340 grams of ham for four, with the Velouté, aspic, and cream reduced by the same factor. The size changed; the grammar did not. One cook, one stove, one evening.
The elaborate truffle decoration is brigade scaffolding and may go. Sieving the ham, working it over ice, adding the aspic little by little, and folding in cream only half-beaten are the dish and must stay. The one step that matters most is the aspic: cool enough not to melt the cream, fluid enough not to seize. If it threads into jelly, don't panic. Ça se rattrape, and the method catches it before the mould.
Mousse froide de jambon belongs to the Parisian garde-manger and the formal cold buffet, where cooked meat was pounded smooth, lightened with cream, and stabilized with aspic for clean service. It moved from grand kitchens into bourgeois dining rooms through decorative communal moulds and small cassolettes, whose paper collars gave the appearance of a cold Soufflé. The common misconception is that this is merely whipped ham: Velouté gives body, aspic gives the clean slice, and cream gives the mousse its lift.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
very lean, mild cooked ham
Quantity
About 2½ cups (590 ml / 340 g)
rind and visible fat removed, diced and chilled
prepared cold Velouté
Quantity
9½ tablespoons (142 ml / 145 g)
thick but spoonable
prepared clear meat aspic
Quantity
7 tablespoons (about 106 ml / 106 g)
melted and cooled until fluid
very cold heavy cream
Quantity
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons (285 ml / 283 g), for the half-beaten finish used in Mousse de Homard (No. 956)
fine salt
Quantity
¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml / 1.5 g), only if needed
finely ground white pepper
Quantity
⅛ teaspoon (0.6 ml / 0.3 g)
cayenne pepper
Quantity
1 small pinch
additional melted meat aspic (optional)
Quantity
¼ cup (60 ml / 60 g), for the mould-clothing method in Another Method of Preparing Aspics de Filets de Soles (No. 916)
black truffle (optional)
Quantity
1 small truffle (about 20 g)
thinly sliced into simple lozenges
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| very lean, mild cooked hamrind and visible fat removed, diced and chilled | About 2½ cups (590 ml / 340 g) |
| prepared cold Veloutéthick but spoonable | 9½ tablespoons (142 ml / 145 g) |
| prepared clear meat aspicmelted and cooled until fluid | 7 tablespoons (about 106 ml / 106 g) |
| very cold heavy cream | 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons (285 ml / 283 g), for the half-beaten finish used in Mousse de Homard (No. 956) |
| fine salt | ¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml / 1.5 g), only if needed |
| finely ground white pepper | ⅛ teaspoon (0.6 ml / 0.3 g) |
| cayenne pepper | 1 small pinch |
| additional melted meat aspic (optional) | ¼ cup (60 ml / 60 g), for the mould-clothing method in Another Method of Preparing Aspics de Filets de Soles (No. 916) |
| black truffle (optional)thinly sliced into simple lozenges | 1 small truffle (about 20 g) |
Equipment Needed
- •1-litre metal charlotte or timbale mould, or four 180 ml straight-sided ramekins
- •Food processor with metal blade
- •Fine-mesh sieve or tamis
- •Flexible bowl scraper
- •Two stainless-steel mixing bowls for the ice bath
- •Digital thermometer
Instructions
- 1
Prepare the cold station
Chill the ham, Velouté, cream, processor bowl and blade, fine sieve, mixing bowl, spatula, and mould for twenty minutes. Fill a larger bowl one-third full with ice and cold water, then nest the mixing bowl inside it. Melt the measured aspic over the gentlest heat only until fluid, never simmering, and cool it to about 20 to 22°C before use. It must pour freely without feeling warm.
Solid refrigerator-cold aspic cannot disperse, while warm aspic softens the purée and cream. Fluid but cool is the narrow gate through which this mousse must pass. - 2
Clothe the mould
For a single one-litre mould, chemiser, meaning clothe it with aspic, before making the mousse. Pour in the optional additional aspic and rotate the cold mould over ice until the inside carries a thin, even coat, then drain the excess. If using truffle, place the lozenges against the tacky coating and seal them with another spoonful of aspic. This is the mould-clothing technique named in Another Method of Preparing Aspics de Filets de Soles (No. 916). For four cassolettes, line the inside of each rim with a 3 cm strip of parchment and skip the coating and truffle.
- 3
Purée the ham
Pulse the chilled ham alone until very finely minced. Add the cold Velouté a spoonful at a time, scraping down the bowl between additions, and process only until the mixture becomes a smooth, thick purée. The processor replaces the original mortar and heavy pounding, which was brigade labor rather than the heart of the dish. If the bowl begins to feel warm, stop and chill everything for ten minutes before continuing.
- 4
Pass the fine sieve
Rub the ham purée through the fine sieve into the chilled mixing bowl, working in small batches with a flexible scraper. Scrape every bit of smooth purée from the underside and discard the dry fibers left behind. This step stays. It removes the ham's stringy structure and gives the mousse its close, silken cut; no amount of extra processing produces quite the same result.
- 5
Season over ice
Nest the purée over the ice bath. Add the white pepper and cayenne, then taste from a chilled spoon before adding any salt, because the ham, Velouté, and aspic may already provide enough. Work the purée steadily with the spatula for three to four minutes, scraping the sides, until it is completely uniform, cold, and slightly elastic.
- 6
Work in the aspic
Add the cool, fluid aspic one tablespoon at a time, stirring each addition fully into the purée before the next. Keep the bowl over ice, but lift it away if the mixture begins setting against the sides. If the aspic forms rubbery threads, stop. Ça se rattrape: set the bowl over barely warm water and stir only until the threads disappear, then return it to the ice bath. Do not let the purée become warm.
- 7
Fold the half-beaten cream
Reserve two tablespoons of the measured cream. Beat the rest only until it thickens and the whisk leaves a faint trail that immediately relaxes, with no peaks. This is crème à demi-fouettée, the half-beaten cream also used in Mousse de Homard (No. 956). Fold one-third into the ham mixture to loosen it, then fold in the remainder in two additions. If the cream was taken too far, stir in the reserved liquid cream to soften it before folding. If the mousse tightens before the cream is incorporated, hold the bowl over barely warm water for a few seconds and fold from the edges until supple again.
- 8
Fill and chill
Spoon the mousse into the prepared mould immediately. Press the first layer gently against the base and sides to prevent air pockets, then fill the remainder without beating out the lightness. Smooth the top, cover, and chill for at least four hours or overnight. For cassolettes, fill just above the rim inside the paper collars and level the tops like small cold Soufflés. Do not freeze the mousse, because thawed aspic weeps and the cream loses its fine texture.
- 9
Unmould and serve
Chill the serving platter. Dip the outside of the large mould in warm water for two to three seconds, dry it, cover it with the platter, and invert in one confident motion. If it clings, repeat the dip for one second rather than prying at the mousse. Peel the paper collars from cassolettes only after they are fully set. Serve well chilled, cutting the large mousse with a warm, dry knife. À table!
Chef Tips
- •Choose a mild, unsmoked cooked ham sold in a thick piece, with very little visible fat. Jambon de Paris is ideal when available. Avoid sweet-glazed ham and wet paper-thin slices, because their sugar and excess moisture flatten the mousse.
- •The Velouté and aspic are finished foundations, not places to improvise during assembly. Use a butter-and-roux Velouté with enough body to coat a spoon and a clear, well-seasoned meat aspic that sets cleanly but isn't rubbery. Prepare both ahead and chill them thoroughly.
- •The processor saves the mortar work, but it doesn't replace the sieve. Cooking well is not cooking fancy, and here refinement comes from one patient pass through fine mesh, not from extra machinery.
- •Serve the mousse as a cold main course with dressed bitter leaves, cornichons, and thin toast or brioche. A dry Champagne or brisk Loire Chenin Blanc has enough acidity to meet the cream and ham without bullying either.
- •Keep the mousse at or below 4°C and return it to the refrigerator promptly after serving. Leftovers keep for two days, tightly covered.
Advance Preparation
- •Prepare the finished Velouté and clear meat aspic up to two days ahead. Chill them separately, tightly covered, and melt only the aspic needed for assembly.
- •The mould may be clothed with aspic and decorated with truffle earlier in the day. Keep it refrigerated until the ham mixture is ready.
- •Assemble the mousse the day before the dinner. An overnight rest gives the aspic a clean set and leaves the cook free when guests arrive.
- •Do not freeze the finished mousse. Aspic releases water after freezing, and the once-silky cut becomes grainy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 240g)
Calories
405 calories
Total Fat
32 g
Saturated Fat
19 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
11 g
Cholesterol
135 mg
Sodium
1390 mg
Total Carbohydrates
6 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
3 g
Protein
23 g
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