During
the 1930s, homemakers experimented with “sinkers and floaters” in their congealed
salads.
Things
that sank in gelatin were fresh grapes, cooked prunes and just about anything
that came out of a can, including apricots, berries, cherries, peaches and
pineapple.
Things
that floated in gelatin were diced apples, sliced bananas, fresh orange
sections, sliced pears, halved strawberries, marshmallows and chopped nuts.
Another
trick of the trade was to fold in mayonnaise, sour cream, cream cheese or
cottage cheese to give the gelatin an opaque appearance. Some recipes included frostings
to complete the look.
Food
historian Lora Smith said: “After World War II, something happened in the
kitchen. Jell-O marked and divided a shift in home cooking.”
Kate
Williams wrote a series on “Saving Southern Recipes” for the Southern Kitchen
website. She said interest in Jell-O salads peaked in the 1950s, and then “began
to wane in popularity by the late 1960s, as more and more women joined and
stayed in the workforce.”
Food
writer Sarah Grey said tastes and diets changed as well. “Nutrition campaigns
began to emphasize the importance of eliminating sugar. Savory Jell-O salads
fell out of fashion, replaced by tossed salads and a fad for sun-dried
tomatoes,” Grey said.
“Fancy
Jell-O salads were now reserved for holidays like Christmas, having graduated
to the memory menu of family traditions.”
Williams
admits that her exposure to congealed salads while growing up was limited to family
reunions. “The most common was a dish we called ‘green squares,’ which is a
molded, sliceable variation of lime-flavored Jell-O filled with pineapple,
cottage cheese and mayonnaise; it sounds quite absurd, but manages to still
taste good.”
Faced
with declining sales, Jell-O responded by marketing its products as snacks and
desserts, even adding sugar-free options to their product lines. An ambitious
marketing campaign focused on television programming viewed in households with
young children.
Jell-O
products were once again postured as being safe, healthy and fun.
And,
besides…“There’s always room for Jell-O,” the company advertised. (Ain’t that
the dabnabbit truth?)
Yet,
in many families, the congealed salad is today viewed as “a once-loved dish
safely congealed in the decorative mold of history,” says Laura Shapiro, a noted
author and culinary historian from Cambridge, Mass.
This
is not the case, however, in Utah. In 2001, the state senate proclaimed Jell-O
as the “favorite snack food of Utah.”
The
most coveted souvenir from the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002 was the collectible
pin representing a bowl of lime Jell-O.
In
Washington, D.C., the staff of U.S. Senator Mike Lee, R-Utah, observes “Jell-O
with the Senator” every Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. Visitors are welcome to stop in
for a “Jell-O Jiggler.”
Conversation
often focuses on why Utah is nicknamed as the “Jell-O Belt.” It’s a fact, Utahns
consume more Jell-O per capita than residents of any other state. Jell-O has
been popularized by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“Whenever
we Mormons gather, there will be at least four or five kinds of Jell-O salads
at any event, all of them savory,” commented Sariah Hillam of Provo, Utah, a
digital media specialist.
National
Jell-O Week is celebrated each year during the second week of February. What
could be more lovey-dovey than a chilled, red congealed salad as a gift to
one’s Valentine?
A
recipe worth trying comes from Taste from Home magazine. It’s labeled
“Sweetheart Jell-O Salad.” It calls for cherry Jell-O, crushed pineapple, cream
cheese, maraschino cherries and juice, lemon juice and whipped cream topping.
Add two cherries with stems as a romantic garnish.
Close
your eyes and imagine black-and-white TV with singer Dinah Shore blowing
kisses…mwah!
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