Victorian jelly

ELEANOR BARNETT explores the surprisingly long history of quivering, colourful dessert popular with children

- ELEANOR BARNETT

Wobbly and whimsical, jelly is known as a joyous, colourful sweet treat of children's birthday parties. In the 20th century, though, jelly wasn't just for kids - it was the height of fashion. There are today Instagram accounts dedicated to the jelly craze of the 1970s, when it was trendy to set everything - salads, fish, meat, eggs - in gelatine.

Some such dishes were surprisingly delicious, while others were entirely bizarre. Recently, I came across a recipe that called for a whole melon to be stuffed with fruit jelly, coated in cream cheese and salad dressing, and served on a bed of lettuce.

The history of jelly stretches back long before the 20th century. Medieval cooks were the first to write recipes incorporating aspic - a clear jelly made by slowly boiling down bones and meat, especially collagen-rich calves' feet, then straining the resulting liquid and allowing it to cool and set.

Used to encase expensive meats, thereby preventing contact with air and keeping them fresh for longer, aspic was an effective preservation tool.