Junket (dessert)

Junket is a milk-based dessert, made with sweetened milk and rennet, the digestive enzyme which curdles milk. It might best be described as a loose pudding.

To make junket, milk (usually with sugar and vanilla added) is heated to approximately body temperature and the rennet, which has been dissolved in water, is mixed in to cause the milk to "set". (Temperature variations will inactivate the enzyme in the rennet, causing the dessert to fail.) The dessert is chilled prior to serving. Junket is often served with a sprinkling of grated nutmeg on top. For the majority of the 20th Century, in the eastern United States Junket was often a preferred food for ill children, mostly due to its sweetness and ease of digestion.

In the United States, junket is commonly made with a prepackaged mix of rennet and sweetener from a company eponymously also known as Junket. Junket is not common in the United States.

The word's etymology is uncertain. It is clearly related to the Norman "jonquette" (a kind of cream made with boiled milk, egg yolks, sugar and caramel). However it may derive from the Italian "giuncata" or directly from the medieval Latin "juncata". The first recorded use (in this sense) is in "The boke of nurture, folowyng Englondis gise" [ cite book | first=John | last=Russell | authorlink=John Russell | year=c. 1460 | title=The boke of nurture, folowyng Englondis gise ]

RECIPES FOR JUNKET

62. Plain Junket.--In the stomachs of all animals that use milk as food is found a digestive ferment known as rennin. This is taken from the stomachs of calves, made up commercially, and sold in the form of tablets called junket. When these tablets are used properly with milk, they coagulate the milk and make an excellent dessert that resembles custard and that is very easy to digest. Because of its nature and qualities, this kind of dessert is used largely for invalids and children. The following recipe gives the proportion and directions for making this dessert in its simplest form.

PLAIN JUNKET (Sufficient to Serve Eight) 1 junket tablet 1 Tb. cold water 1 qt. milk 4 Tb. sugar 1/4 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. vanilla or other flavoring Dissolve the junket tablet in the cold water. Warm the milk very slowly to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, testing the temperature to make sure that it is right. If a thermometer is not on hand, this can be done by dropping a drop on the back of the hand. When neither heat nor cold can be felt from this drop of milk, it may be known to be very near the body temperature, the temperature at which rennin is active. If temperature is found to be too high, the milk must be cooled before the tablet is added. When the desired temperature has been reached, add the sugar, the alt, the junket dissolved in the water, and the flavoring. Then pour all into individual molds and keep it where it will remain warm for about 10 minutes, at the end of which it should be firm like a custard and may be cooled. Keep the junket cool until it is to be served, when it may be turned out of the mold or served in it. As junket will turn to whey if it is broken with a spoon to any extent, serving it in the mold is the better plan.

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