in addition of the qtk opinion: a jelly in kholodets should be the result of a boiling extraction of moisture from beef tea. cause any thickeners just transform a bouillon to a polimeric gel. it seems to me the real emotion be carried by a real kholodets is a taste of hard boiled beef with piquant greens; so savoury as only the memory about a tiny sip of a hottest spicy soup on the icy wind at a winter river shore can be turned to the reality and be presented by the real kholodets. and... do not you think to collect and prepare the best russian recipes be published by your russian readers and friends by youself? in home we cook our food quite differently and authentic then restaurants do the same. by the way, the very interesting part of the russian cookery is the siberian and russian north cuisine. due to you prefer a light food you can discover a list of russian north or siberian diches that can be resound with your own style of nutrition.