'Tis the season to make jelly

[ardcarp]

orange jelly and tinned mandarin segments,

That takes me back too. Tinned mandarin oranges one of the early exotica around when we were kids. Don't think Jersey cream came to our household very often though.

[french frank]

Does anyone remember jelly as a big treat as a child...i.e. as a pudding in its own right. Soon after it became somewhat despised as ice-cream and fridges became more common.
The cheating way to make jelly was to buy those packs of joined-up wobbly cubes, pour on hot water and allow to cool and solidify. Are they still available? I'd secretly eat a cube or two on their own.

This is exactly what the Americans call (brand name?) Jello. Goes with trifle. Even British-born Mark needed me to explain what jelly is (he has been gone some time). I think it would be called jam in the US because they don't differentiate between 'jam' - which includes the whole fruit - and jelly which is made from the strained liquid.

I don't think I would eat jam with cheese - but jelly

[Pulcinella]

One of the dessert options on a Wednesday at the primary school where I help out is a dollop of (rather thin, it must be said) pale pink jelly and a ladleful of fruit cocktail. I opt for a yogurt instead.

[french frank]

One of the dessert options on a Wednesday at the primary school where I help out is a dollop of (rather thin, it must be said) pale pink jelly and a ladleful of fruit cocktail. I opt for a yogurt instead.

It looks as if the original meaning of the word 'jelly' is from 'gelatine' which is the setting agent for pudding jellies, made from animal stuff. The alternative meaning of a pure fruit jelly, using natural pectin as the setting agent, is a later meaning. Under the same heading the OED just says "Also, in later use, a preparation of the juice of fruit, or other vegetable substances, thickened into a similar consistence" (nb I would say consistency there: what is consistence?). It seems to be first used in Arbuthnot's 1732 Practical Rules of Diet where there is no suggestion of animal content (i.e. 'an article of food, consisting chiefly of gelatin, obtained from various animal tissues, as skin, tendons, bones, etc., by boiling and subsequent cooling...'). I would consider the fruit/plant jelly a 'condiment' (as mint jelly or redcurrant jelly), to be added in small quantities to savoury foods.

[Pulcinella]

It looks as if the original meaning of the word 'jelly' is from 'gelatine' which is the setting agent for pudding jellies, made from animal stuff. The alternative meaning of a pure fruit jelly, using natural pectin as the setting agent, is a later meaning. Under the same heading the OED just says "Also, in later use, a preparation of the juice of fruit, or other vegetable substances, thickened into a similar consistence" (nb I would say consistency there: what is consistence?). It seems to be first used in Arbuthnot's 1732 Practical Rules of Diet where there is no suggestion of animal content (i.e. 'an article of food, consisting chiefly of gelatin, obtained from various animal tissues, as skin, tendons, bones, etc., by boiling and subsequent cooling...'). I would consider the fruit/plant jelly a 'condiment' (as mint jelly or redcurrant jelly), to be added in small quantities to savoury foods.

In Canada (certainly at the time I lived there as a graduate student) grated carrot in lime jelly (Jello) was considered the height of sophistication as an accompaniment at a meal.

[french frank]

I messed up bigly at the first attempt . Forgot to lower the heat right down to a simmer when cooking the rosehips and apple, so too much of the liquid evaporated. As a consequence, when the mashed pulp was strained overnight it delivered only a large cupful of juice (though it was very concentrated juice ). I collected another kilo of hips this morning, stripped my crab apple tree of fruit but had to buy an extra green apple. I'm hoping the pectin in the sugar will be enough, along with the apple, to ensure a set. All simmering now.

I was rather surprised last year when the jelly set perfectly - must have been beginner's luck.