1 00:00:08,560 --> 00:00:10,959 Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to food Stuff. I'm Anny Rees and 2 00:00:11,039 --> 00:00:16,520 Speaker 1: I'm Lauren Folgelbaum, and today we're talking about aspects. You 3 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:19,639 Speaker 1: might remember we mentioned this in a listener mail that 4 00:00:19,680 --> 00:00:23,239 Speaker 1: we read a couple episodes ago from Sierra. Thank you Sierra, 5 00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:26,960 Speaker 1: because it was such a wonderful discovery for me. I've 6 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:30,920 Speaker 1: never heard of these things. I laughed so hard. I 7 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:35,000 Speaker 1: was horrified. Growing growing up watching a lot of Julia 8 00:00:35,159 --> 00:00:38,400 Speaker 1: Child videos. Um, I I had definitely been exposed to that, 9 00:00:38,479 --> 00:00:40,360 Speaker 1: and also my my dad had had a little bit 10 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:43,160 Speaker 1: of training in classical French cooking. So if you haven't 11 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:44,960 Speaker 1: seen a picture of one of these things, look them 12 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:48,080 Speaker 1: up the literal second you get a chance, like the second. 13 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:52,479 Speaker 1: They're so strange and they're so funny. Because okay, because 14 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:57,880 Speaker 1: what what is an aspect? Yes, it's basically savory jellouh 15 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:01,240 Speaker 1: before you freak out, Okay, have you ever enjoyed us 16 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:03,960 Speaker 1: a say tan katsu raman or like a nice rich 17 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:07,600 Speaker 1: stock or like a bone broth kind of thing? Uh, 18 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:11,839 Speaker 1: savory gelatin a k A aspect is a chilled version 19 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:14,960 Speaker 1: of the same thing. Uh. You take broth or stock 20 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:18,000 Speaker 1: or consummate, which is another term for clarified stock, and 21 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:22,080 Speaker 1: you jellify it, chill it, and mold it into decorative shapes, 22 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:25,920 Speaker 1: sometimes with meat or vegetables or hard boiled eggs or 23 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:29,000 Speaker 1: whatever else you can imagine put inside of it. I 24 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:32,680 Speaker 1: am trying to hold back from laughing just hearing the description. Okay, 25 00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:35,440 Speaker 1: but like ideally, the point of an aspect is is 26 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:38,160 Speaker 1: that you know it phase changes at your body temperature 27 00:01:39,319 --> 00:01:41,600 Speaker 1: a k a. Melts, so you wind up with this 28 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:46,160 Speaker 1: spoonful of cold, delicious broth on your tongue. Mm hmm. 29 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:53,040 Speaker 1: They look ludicrous. They look absolutely just gross and very 30 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:59,240 Speaker 1: silly and wiggly and meaty, very meaty and vegetably olive. 31 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:03,280 Speaker 1: You sometimes, yeah, I mean now you have to look 32 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:05,720 Speaker 1: them up if you haven't done it already. And every 33 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 1: every gelatine mold that you can imagine has had an 34 00:02:08,480 --> 00:02:13,080 Speaker 1: aspect in it at some point, definitely probably something you 35 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:16,560 Speaker 1: can't imagine. There were definitely some things I never would 36 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:21,400 Speaker 1: have imagined that I stumbled in aspect jelly or delay. 37 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:23,799 Speaker 1: If your fancy can also be used as a kind 38 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:27,239 Speaker 1: of decoration or like condiment for cold dishes. Um it 39 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:30,280 Speaker 1: can be like a flavorful, pretty topping that you put 40 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:33,080 Speaker 1: on top of a pettet's or tureens. Or you can 41 00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:35,280 Speaker 1: use it as a thin like brushed on glaze on 42 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:38,360 Speaker 1: cold presentations of sliced meat or seafood to give them 43 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:42,880 Speaker 1: that nice sheen. Oh yes, you want all your food 44 00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:47,720 Speaker 1: to be shiny, obviously. Uh. Sometimes the jelly part is 45 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:52,079 Speaker 1: basically inedible or at least very unpleasant um, and is 46 00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:55,919 Speaker 1: simply in heavy scare quotes, a way to show off 47 00:02:56,040 --> 00:02:59,640 Speaker 1: the time and money that you have at your disposal. Uh, 48 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:03,480 Speaker 1: Like like putting it a whole cooked salmon inside a 49 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:08,600 Speaker 1: purely decorative aspect mold. Don't we all love having to 50 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:13,040 Speaker 1: dig through basically an inedible jelly to get to a 51 00:03:13,040 --> 00:03:15,960 Speaker 1: whole cooked salmon. That's what I do at all of 52 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:19,040 Speaker 1: my fancy parties. Annie. This is why I've never invited you. 53 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:21,800 Speaker 1: I didn't think you could handle it. I promised to 54 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:23,959 Speaker 1: be less judgmental. But you have to invite me to 55 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:26,079 Speaker 1: one of these. Now now that I know about it, 56 00:03:26,960 --> 00:03:29,680 Speaker 1: I have to go, I guess so. In the middle 57 00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:31,400 Speaker 1: of our research for this. By the way, um, a 58 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:34,079 Speaker 1: blogger slash YouTuber by the name of Emmy as an 59 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:38,480 Speaker 1: Emmy made in Japan had a post about spaghetti jello 60 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:41,360 Speaker 1: go viral as I have been told what the kids 61 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:46,680 Speaker 1: say these days, they I guess, um, Uh, spaghetti jello 62 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:50,320 Speaker 1: is like a savory tomato based jello mold with spaghettios 63 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:52,840 Speaker 1: in it. Um the way that she's made it anyway, Um, 64 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:55,160 Speaker 1: you might have seen this video and it is it 65 00:03:55,520 --> 00:04:00,240 Speaker 1: basically counts as an aspect. Yeah, it does. Um. I 66 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:04,080 Speaker 1: did have a friend whose mom she was notorious for 67 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:08,600 Speaker 1: her interesting cooking, we'll say, And one time I came 68 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 1: over and she said she had orange jello with cabbage. Huh. 69 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:15,760 Speaker 1: I didn't try it. I didn't see it because of 70 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:18,480 Speaker 1: those words enough as a kid, I was like, no, no, 71 00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:22,680 Speaker 1: But I guess maybe that was an aspect. Maybe she 72 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:25,240 Speaker 1: was offering me some form of an aspect. It might 73 00:04:25,279 --> 00:04:28,960 Speaker 1: have counted. I certainly growing up, my um my grandmother 74 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:34,320 Speaker 1: in Ohio would serve gelatins salads, um, which would be 75 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:37,479 Speaker 1: like lime jello with maybe shredded carrots or something like 76 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:39,839 Speaker 1: that inside of it. And it was definitely a side 77 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:44,839 Speaker 1: salad and it was definitely like sweet jello with carrots 78 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:47,920 Speaker 1: in it. I love that people call them salads. It's 79 00:04:47,960 --> 00:04:50,160 Speaker 1: one of my favorite things. We'll do anything to like 80 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:54,839 Speaker 1: sound healthy, but really, yeah, I mean it, it's green. 81 00:04:55,680 --> 00:05:01,080 Speaker 1: Oh boy, yep, that's what counts these day. And we 82 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:03,599 Speaker 1: laugh or maybe shutter at these now, but at one 83 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:07,080 Speaker 1: time they were reserved for the finest of the fine 84 00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:11,480 Speaker 1: dining experience. Absolutely. Yeah. So let's look at the history 85 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:16,200 Speaker 1: of these things. Aspects are relatively new, new kid on 86 00:05:16,240 --> 00:05:18,559 Speaker 1: the block, but they might be older than you think. 87 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:23,880 Speaker 1: The first instances of aspects most likely go back to 88 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:27,840 Speaker 1: eighteenth century France. Yes, France, Like we're kind of mentioned 89 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:30,480 Speaker 1: in the beginning of the podcast, so yeah, yeah, that's 90 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:35,200 Speaker 1: spoiler alerts. Sorry, she totally spoiled it. The first instance 91 00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:38,480 Speaker 1: of gelatine making didn't involve food at all. Instead, scraps 92 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:41,280 Speaker 1: and bones left over after an animal carcass had been 93 00:05:41,279 --> 00:05:43,839 Speaker 1: picked clean would be boiled down to collagen that was 94 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:48,880 Speaker 1: then used as an adhesive for cave painting. Yeah. Good 95 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:51,560 Speaker 1: old Pliny mentions that Romans did a similar thing to 96 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:56,479 Speaker 1: produce strong fish glue. Yeah. Gelatine useful for many things. 97 00:05:56,480 --> 00:05:59,320 Speaker 1: We'll get into some of that into science section later on. 98 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:04,839 Speaker 1: Aspects were preceded by fourteenth century medieval Savory gelatin dishes 99 00:06:04,880 --> 00:06:08,760 Speaker 1: called jellies that were made with boiled pig feet and 100 00:06:08,839 --> 00:06:12,320 Speaker 1: ears filtered through cough. I found one recipe by the 101 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:16,719 Speaker 1: name of a jelly of flesh that sounds so good, 102 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:20,000 Speaker 1: sounds so metal it does it could be a band. 103 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:24,800 Speaker 1: The molded shapes delighted the medieval ive. They added bonus 104 00:06:24,839 --> 00:06:27,839 Speaker 1: that the meats and produced inside the gelatine usually could 105 00:06:27,839 --> 00:06:30,599 Speaker 1: prevent spoilage for a little longer by cutting off the 106 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:35,040 Speaker 1: air supply from oxygen hungry bacteria. Right. Uh. The word 107 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:38,039 Speaker 1: jelly or gelatine may come, by the way, from the 108 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:42,480 Speaker 1: Latin gelata, meaning frozen, indicating that the liquid and anything 109 00:06:42,480 --> 00:06:44,880 Speaker 1: that you put in it would be frozen in place. 110 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:51,440 Speaker 1: Also gelato. Yeah. Sure. Recipes for other savory gelatin dishes 111 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:55,279 Speaker 1: use calves and sheep's feet instead of pigs. One calls 112 00:06:55,320 --> 00:06:59,400 Speaker 1: for white wine, ginger, annis, cinnamon, pepper, nutmeg, mace, and 113 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:02,640 Speaker 1: saffron in the mix. Uh, and and all that would 114 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:05,640 Speaker 1: then be strained and poured over chopped hens and the 115 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:09,920 Speaker 1: meat from the cow and or sheep's feet. So fancy 116 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:15,800 Speaker 1: sounds delightful, and making these dishes was just a serious 117 00:07:15,880 --> 00:07:18,680 Speaker 1: pain in the in the calf's foot, you'd have to 118 00:07:18,840 --> 00:07:21,760 Speaker 1: boil the animal parts for several hours, then strain all 119 00:07:21,760 --> 00:07:24,280 Speaker 1: of the solids out and let the remaining liquid settle 120 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:26,760 Speaker 1: for an entire day and night, so that the fat 121 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:29,560 Speaker 1: would rise to the top for skin for skimming. Um 122 00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:33,320 Speaker 1: that the remaining stuff was gelatine that could be reheated 123 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 1: and then flavored and molded. There was also a specific 124 00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:43,640 Speaker 1: dish I found called um galantine a galantine. No, No, 125 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:47,480 Speaker 1: it's spelled like Galantine's day, but I think it's pronounced Galantine. 126 00:07:47,800 --> 00:07:49,840 Speaker 1: And it was made of a minced meat and other 127 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:52,440 Speaker 1: stuff that was pressed into sort of like a round 128 00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:55,520 Speaker 1: loaf and then coated in the savory gelatine with a 129 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:59,320 Speaker 1: heavy spice blend. It was popular enough that Chaucer mentions 130 00:07:59,320 --> 00:08:02,160 Speaker 1: it in his slid to rosamond Um. We got our 131 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:06,000 Speaker 1: compatriot Jonathan Strickland, who is an erstwhile student of Middle English, 132 00:08:06,200 --> 00:08:10,600 Speaker 1: to read the original for us. Nos, never peak wallowed 133 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:19,000 Speaker 1: in garlandin as e in LoVa, I'm wallowed on. In 134 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:22,200 Speaker 1: case you didn't catch all of that, it means something like, uh, 135 00:08:22,480 --> 00:08:25,640 Speaker 1: never was Pike so imbued in Gallantine as I in 136 00:08:25,800 --> 00:08:32,160 Speaker 1: love am imbued and wounded. Wow, that's some serious stuff. 137 00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:36,360 Speaker 1: Chaucer was so thirsty. Oh my goodness. Okay. Uh. If 138 00:08:36,400 --> 00:08:38,520 Speaker 1: you want to hear more from from Jonathan Strickland, by 139 00:08:38,520 --> 00:08:40,320 Speaker 1: the way, you can catch him on the podcast tech 140 00:08:40,400 --> 00:08:43,520 Speaker 1: Stuff and also on the Facebook live show called Game 141 00:08:43,600 --> 00:08:47,960 Speaker 1: Changers on How Stuff Works Facebook page. Yeah, super fun people, 142 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:51,640 Speaker 1: history of board games, people playboard games, video games, all 143 00:08:51,679 --> 00:08:54,920 Speaker 1: kinds of things. Yeah, check them out, Thank you Jonathan. Anyway, 144 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:58,520 Speaker 1: uh so, these sorts of recipes pop up in upper 145 00:08:58,559 --> 00:09:02,560 Speaker 1: class cookbooks from all over Europe. The British Museum Cookbook 146 00:09:02,559 --> 00:09:05,440 Speaker 1: reports they were often decorated with edible gold and silver 147 00:09:05,600 --> 00:09:10,480 Speaker 1: leaf to make them that much more extra showy. Yes. Uh. 148 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:14,600 Speaker 1: And these cold dishes might have been especially popular due 149 00:09:14,679 --> 00:09:18,880 Speaker 1: to the theory of using food to balance humors. That 150 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:22,240 Speaker 1: that whole concept of cool versus hot, and wet versus 151 00:09:22,320 --> 00:09:24,520 Speaker 1: dry that's going on in our bodies and in the 152 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:28,800 Speaker 1: universe around us. Um so, so, cold dishes made with 153 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:33,199 Speaker 1: gelatine were recommended, especially for people with hot and moist temperaments, 154 00:09:33,320 --> 00:09:38,400 Speaker 1: um like youth and adolescence or during towards southern summers. 155 00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:40,760 Speaker 1: One of these days, we're going to do an episode 156 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:43,000 Speaker 1: on humors. I feel like they keep popping up. Yeah, 157 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:46,720 Speaker 1: and I'm not entirely sure, but I am interested in 158 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:52,079 Speaker 1: hot and moist temperaments. That's a great descriptor. I think 159 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:54,320 Speaker 1: I've known a few people like that, Oh have you? 160 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:59,320 Speaker 1: I think we all do anyway to please the Friday 161 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:02,720 Speaker 1: non eating Catholic crowd. Chef's got the idea to boil 162 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:05,720 Speaker 1: some eels in the stock of a fish like cod, 163 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:11,760 Speaker 1: and also swim bladders to make Catholic approved fish jellies. 164 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:16,680 Speaker 1: That sounds very appetizing. Oh yeah. Meanwhile, in the late 165 00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:20,520 Speaker 1: fifteen hundreds, a fellow sometimes called Europe's first celebrity chef, 166 00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:23,520 Speaker 1: wrote about his technique of using egg whites to help 167 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:28,600 Speaker 1: clarify stock for gelatine. That was Maestro Martino di como Um, 168 00:10:28,679 --> 00:10:31,040 Speaker 1: who was Italian if you could not tell, And we'll 169 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:33,959 Speaker 1: talk more about that works also in our science section below. 170 00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:37,840 Speaker 1: Towards the end of the medieval era, the definition of 171 00:10:37,920 --> 00:10:41,880 Speaker 1: jelly expanded to include sweets, some made with either pecton 172 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:45,760 Speaker 1: or The Russian discovered eyes and glass, which was derived 173 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:49,400 Speaker 1: from beluga bladder surgeons. That doesn't sound as fancy as 174 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:54,959 Speaker 1: eyes and glass, absolutely not. Rose water was a popular 175 00:10:54,960 --> 00:10:57,720 Speaker 1: flavoring for these sweet jellies. And this was also about 176 00:10:57,720 --> 00:11:01,120 Speaker 1: the time that the terram flummery came into existence, which 177 00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:05,280 Speaker 1: is usually reserved for for sweet gelled dishes, but has 178 00:11:05,360 --> 00:11:08,760 Speaker 1: sometimes been used to hold at savory ingredients as well. 179 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:15,280 Speaker 1: Flummery sounds like something you'd exclaim, flambert, what flubbery? Is 180 00:11:15,320 --> 00:11:18,400 Speaker 1: this that the meaning of the word has has expanded 181 00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:22,119 Speaker 1: to mean something kind of like insubstantial and silly excellent? 182 00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:26,280 Speaker 1: I might incorporate that absolutely. Apart from the Lord of 183 00:11:26,280 --> 00:11:28,640 Speaker 1: the rings, sounding eyes and glass, there were a few 184 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:32,440 Speaker 1: other competitors of gelatine. In sixteen sixty Japan, it was 185 00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:36,040 Speaker 1: discovered that if you processed red seaweed you could get content, 186 00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:39,680 Speaker 1: a seaweed based jelly that was especially popular in Asia. 187 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:44,480 Speaker 1: Europeans called it a garagar, and Northern Europe also had 188 00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:48,400 Speaker 1: a method for boiling irish moss or red seaweed until 189 00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:51,680 Speaker 1: they derived kara guinan. I've actually never known how to 190 00:11:51,679 --> 00:11:55,000 Speaker 1: say that, which they then used to thicken things up. 191 00:11:56,000 --> 00:11:59,840 Speaker 1: Other sources of jellification included heart's horn, which is made 192 00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:04,560 Speaker 1: from the horns of deer um and ivory shavings very 193 00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:09,280 Speaker 1: very fancy. Indeed, Indeed, it wasn't until sixteen eighty two, 194 00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:13,480 Speaker 1: that gelatine technology took another leap with French mathematician Dennis 195 00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:18,160 Speaker 1: Papen's invention of the wonderfully named steam digester. Steam digester, 196 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:23,080 Speaker 1: this thing extracted gelatine after some serious animal bone boiling. 197 00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:27,640 Speaker 1: The first industrial galatin extracting didn't happen until eighteen eighteen. Wow. 198 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:31,880 Speaker 1: Seventeen eighty nine marks the first time the word appeared 199 00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:35,560 Speaker 1: written in English aspect yes, yes, and at the time 200 00:12:35,760 --> 00:12:39,200 Speaker 1: it meant a cold dish of meat, fish, eggs, et cetera, 201 00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:42,520 Speaker 1: set in molded jelly. The English got it from the French, 202 00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:45,520 Speaker 1: but beyond that, the origins are kind of a mystery. Yeah, 203 00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:47,680 Speaker 1: aspect was also a French term at the time for 204 00:12:47,720 --> 00:12:51,200 Speaker 1: a type of lavenders, so maybe it got the name 205 00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:55,560 Speaker 1: from lavender seasoning that was used in recipes. But some 206 00:12:55,600 --> 00:12:59,600 Speaker 1: food historians and entomologists trace it to the Greek word aspis, 207 00:12:59,600 --> 00:13:02,719 Speaker 1: which literally meant around shield but had become a name 208 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:06,720 Speaker 1: for snakes, especially ones with rounded hoods, and that's where 209 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:09,600 Speaker 1: we get the word asp from. The shield part would 210 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:12,440 Speaker 1: certainly make sense in terms of protecting food inside the jelly, 211 00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:15,880 Speaker 1: or the snake part might refer to the bright colors 212 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:18,160 Speaker 1: that are that are used that we're used in in 213 00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:20,880 Speaker 1: these uh, these aspects, you know, colored with stuff like 214 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:24,040 Speaker 1: extracts of sandal wood for red, saffron for yellow, and 215 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:31,240 Speaker 1: boiled blood for black. And William Makepeace Thackeray's novel Vanity Fair, 216 00:13:31,400 --> 00:13:36,400 Speaker 1: one of the characters, Spoilers, died an aspect of plover's eggs. 217 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:42,000 Speaker 1: Does that sound good? The famous French dictionary Lee Trey 218 00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:45,559 Speaker 1: from around that time lists as cold as an aspect 219 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:50,920 Speaker 1: as a proverbial phrase. Speaking of proverbs, The Brits apparently 220 00:13:51,040 --> 00:13:54,720 Speaker 1: used one to this day that is set in aspect, 221 00:13:55,520 --> 00:14:00,280 Speaker 1: which means something that's stubbornly jilled in its outdated ways. Yes, 222 00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:04,559 Speaker 1: and this was used in a recent headline about British politics. 223 00:14:04,559 --> 00:14:08,600 Speaker 1: So so it's great, Yeah, still in use. Love it. 224 00:14:09,559 --> 00:14:13,320 Speaker 1: There was an amazing variety of fanciful aspects described in 225 00:14:13,360 --> 00:14:17,880 Speaker 1: a cookbook from seventeen sixty nine called The Experienced English 226 00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:22,120 Speaker 1: Housekeeper by one Elizabeth Raffled. And she laid out just 227 00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:26,760 Speaker 1: these spectacular jellies that were made with calf's footstock clarified 228 00:14:26,760 --> 00:14:31,160 Speaker 1: with egg whites. Picture if you will, whole pigeons roasted 229 00:14:31,320 --> 00:14:34,240 Speaker 1: with sprigs of myrtle stuck in their beaks, encased in 230 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:38,280 Speaker 1: clear gelatine, or a gelatine fish pond made with a 231 00:14:38,440 --> 00:14:43,479 Speaker 1: large and small colored flummery fishes also encased in clear gelatine, 232 00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:46,720 Speaker 1: or a hen's nest made out of shredded lemon peel 233 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:51,360 Speaker 1: set in gelatine, filled with gelatin eggs molded in real eggshells, 234 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:55,640 Speaker 1: or with molded gelatine chickens. I I want to hang 235 00:14:55,640 --> 00:14:59,840 Speaker 1: out with this lady. She sounds fabulous, so fabulous. But 236 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:03,400 Speaker 1: Aspects Heyday had not yet arrived, and soon they would 237 00:15:03,440 --> 00:15:07,400 Speaker 1: be propelled into culinary fame by one extra famous chef. 238 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:09,640 Speaker 1: But before we get to that, let's take a quick 239 00:15:09,640 --> 00:15:21,960 Speaker 1: break for a word from our sponsor, and we're back. 240 00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:25,720 Speaker 1: Thank you, sponsor. The person we have to thank for 241 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:31,240 Speaker 1: bringing Aspects into the limelight Lime Lights. It's a major foreshadowing. 242 00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:36,320 Speaker 1: Pun was the famous nineteenth century chef Antonin Karrem who 243 00:15:36,320 --> 00:15:38,960 Speaker 1: we talked about for a decent bit during our French 244 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:41,840 Speaker 1: Cuisine episode. He is also known as one of the 245 00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:48,680 Speaker 1: first celebrity chefs. He adored these things and to do 246 00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:51,400 Speaker 1: it right, in his mind, you needed a calf's foot. 247 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:55,520 Speaker 1: And that's because, as we said before you had to 248 00:15:55,600 --> 00:15:58,320 Speaker 1: boil it down clarify it said it because of the 249 00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:04,640 Speaker 1: time involved asked were extremely expensive and almost exclusively by 250 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:08,360 Speaker 1: the rich, acting as centerpieces on tables that overfloweth with 251 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:11,280 Speaker 1: the core of food and drink. It was assumed that 252 00:16:11,320 --> 00:16:14,280 Speaker 1: if you presented an aspect in such a manner, you 253 00:16:14,360 --> 00:16:15,920 Speaker 1: must have a weight staff who did all the work 254 00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:21,160 Speaker 1: for you. And in Korem's terminology he called this chauffeur 255 00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:26,120 Speaker 1: are cooked hot, served cold. Yes. And like we mentioned 256 00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:28,960 Speaker 1: in our French food episode, Korem was a chef under Napoleon, 257 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:34,560 Speaker 1: so that aspects he perfected were towering, multilayered structures to behold, 258 00:16:34,640 --> 00:16:40,680 Speaker 1: sometimes composing tableau. His final cookbook, published posthumously, featured an 259 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:45,760 Speaker 1: entire chapter complete with diagrams. Diagrams on the mighty extremely 260 00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:52,160 Speaker 1: customizable aspect. Yeah, just these these ribboned layers of different colors, 261 00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:54,640 Speaker 1: and they looked like castles, and they had these turrets 262 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:57,560 Speaker 1: and it was huh, it was a lot. Yes, they're 263 00:16:57,560 --> 00:17:01,800 Speaker 1: pretty great. Looks them up. The European Association of Luxury 264 00:17:01,880 --> 00:17:05,320 Speaker 1: and Aspect made the journey across to the American colonies, 265 00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:09,560 Speaker 1: where they were popular with rich Southern plantation owners and 266 00:17:10,040 --> 00:17:13,640 Speaker 1: where they were probably made by slaves and rich elite 267 00:17:13,720 --> 00:17:16,439 Speaker 1: in New York. And you wouldn't believe who's popping up 268 00:17:16,440 --> 00:17:21,679 Speaker 1: again but Thomas Jefferson. Of course, he combined French wine 269 00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:26,280 Speaker 1: and the French aspect to offer guests at Bunicello wine jellies. 270 00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:31,680 Speaker 1: That sounds pretty lovely. The industrial evolution brought the aspect 271 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:36,040 Speaker 1: to a wider audience with the invention of package to gelatine. Yes, 272 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:41,640 Speaker 1: New York glue manufacturer Peter Cooper patented a powdered mix 273 00:17:41,800 --> 00:17:45,520 Speaker 1: of processed sugar, spices, eggs, and lemon. He called the 274 00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:49,960 Speaker 1: first dessert gelatine mix. However, and the words of Jello 275 00:17:50,040 --> 00:17:53,560 Speaker 1: Gallery dot Org, it didn't really jell with the American 276 00:17:53,600 --> 00:18:00,560 Speaker 1: publish They beat us to that one. They did. It was, however, expensive, 277 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:03,480 Speaker 1: being that it was a byproduct of the meat industry, 278 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:06,800 Speaker 1: which gave enterprising folks the motivation to work with it. 279 00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:10,399 Speaker 1: And meanwhile, aspect based dishes never really went out of 280 00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:13,560 Speaker 1: fashion in most of Europe. Of Victorians, for example, were 281 00:18:13,880 --> 00:18:17,720 Speaker 1: mad about complex gelled dishes like a Foi gras set 282 00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:21,280 Speaker 1: in bombshell gelatine molds decorated with ringlets, stamped out of 283 00:18:21,320 --> 00:18:24,719 Speaker 1: egg set on beds of more gelatin, and also artichokes. 284 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:27,719 Speaker 1: Part of the draw of these things is that they 285 00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:30,199 Speaker 1: could be prepared a day ahead, leaving the day of 286 00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:34,919 Speaker 1: the party for other business. Oh man, they sounds so epic. 287 00:18:36,600 --> 00:18:40,880 Speaker 1: A couple of years later and Pearl we Weight, who 288 00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:44,719 Speaker 1: made cough syrups, added food coloring to the mix of 289 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:47,560 Speaker 1: like dry gelatine powder to create a product. His wife 290 00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:53,000 Speaker 1: suggested he call jellou Yes that Jello, which he patented 291 00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:55,439 Speaker 1: that year, but two years later he sold it to 292 00:18:55,680 --> 00:18:58,879 Speaker 1: Genesee Food Company for four and fifty dollars, which is 293 00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:02,840 Speaker 1: around about eleven thousand of today's American dollars, which I 294 00:19:02,840 --> 00:19:06,919 Speaker 1: guess isn't super shabby unless you consider the empire that 295 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:11,720 Speaker 1: Jello is. By nine hundred, Genese Food Company was putting 296 00:19:11,720 --> 00:19:14,800 Speaker 1: out pamphlets and short cookbooks complete with Jello recipes to 297 00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:18,560 Speaker 1: increase demand. They weren't the only ones promoting Jello in 298 00:19:18,600 --> 00:19:22,080 Speaker 1: the early nineteen hundreds either. Companies that manufactured chillers or 299 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:26,080 Speaker 1: refrigerators got in the game too. For instance, General Electric 300 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:27,960 Speaker 1: came out with a cookbook to help you get the 301 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:30,399 Speaker 1: most out of your new refrigerator. If you take a 302 00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:32,960 Speaker 1: look at the salad section. Yes, the salad section, a 303 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:37,280 Speaker 1: majority of them are aspects. And these ad campaigns were 304 00:19:37,359 --> 00:19:41,119 Speaker 1: very successful. Jello and the aspect really took off in 305 00:19:41,119 --> 00:19:44,879 Speaker 1: the United States. Housewives like them because they were quick, cheap. 306 00:19:45,040 --> 00:19:48,520 Speaker 1: The dessert ones even saved you sugar, increase the life 307 00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:52,160 Speaker 1: of leftovers, and this was really important during the Great Depression. 308 00:19:52,960 --> 00:19:56,160 Speaker 1: And yet they somehow managed to keep this sort of 309 00:19:56,280 --> 00:20:01,119 Speaker 1: show stopper luxurious reputation in part do the time it 310 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:04,040 Speaker 1: took for the gelatine to set and also they were 311 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:06,160 Speaker 1: the one of the least messy things you could feed 312 00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:08,919 Speaker 1: you kids. Oh along those lines, there's a there's a 313 00:20:08,920 --> 00:20:13,080 Speaker 1: book called Perfection Salad written by food historian Laura Shapiro 314 00:20:13,280 --> 00:20:15,840 Speaker 1: about women in cooking around the turn of the twentieth century, 315 00:20:16,200 --> 00:20:19,000 Speaker 1: and she writes that this concept of the cleanliness of 316 00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:23,280 Speaker 1: food literally and psychologically was just a major motivator at 317 00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:26,800 Speaker 1: the time, which we've previously discussed in various episodes about 318 00:20:26,800 --> 00:20:29,200 Speaker 1: the rise of a clean eating culture promoted by people 319 00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:32,240 Speaker 1: like A. Graham and Kellogg, you know, the pure food craze. 320 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:36,760 Speaker 1: Shapiro wrote of the gelatine salad a salad at lasting 321 00:20:36,840 --> 00:20:41,879 Speaker 1: control of itself. At Last, at Last, Jello did a 322 00:20:41,880 --> 00:20:44,560 Speaker 1: good job of capitalizing on the nineteen o six Food 323 00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:49,760 Speaker 1: and Drug Act, advertising it's safety pouch and using the 324 00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:53,720 Speaker 1: word pure three times. This act was prompted by Upton 325 00:20:53,800 --> 00:20:57,000 Speaker 1: Sinclair's The Jungle, which is that infamous look into the 326 00:20:57,040 --> 00:21:00,080 Speaker 1: realities of the meat industry. It's a rough one, but 327 00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:05,600 Speaker 1: definitely worth reading. In jello debut, the smash hit Jello 328 00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:09,000 Speaker 1: Girl that hailed the product as all that was pure 329 00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:13,439 Speaker 1: and innocent about childhood sugar. And thus Jello was ration 330 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:15,760 Speaker 1: during World War One, which put a damp errou on things, 331 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:18,920 Speaker 1: but the product came back swinging once the war was over, 332 00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:24,160 Speaker 1: helped along by the Great Depression and new flavor lime Jello. Apparently, 333 00:21:24,200 --> 00:21:27,840 Speaker 1: the flavor was so loved entire cookbooks were devoted to it. 334 00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:35,240 Speaker 1: Another development that helped gelatin salads popularity that popularization of 335 00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:37,840 Speaker 1: the electric refrigerator. By the end of the nineteen thirties, 336 00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:40,960 Speaker 1: about sixty percent of households in America had one um, 337 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:44,920 Speaker 1: and they kept food cooler more consistently. The Oxford Encyclopedia 338 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:46,960 Speaker 1: of Food and Drink in America estimates it up to 339 00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:49,800 Speaker 1: a third of all recipes printing cookbooks at the time 340 00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:55,879 Speaker 1: involved gelatine. That's crazy, A jello wasn't the only gelatine 341 00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:59,600 Speaker 1: in the game. Charles Knox of Knox Unflavored Gelatine touted 342 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:02,760 Speaker 1: his reduct at the nineteen o four World's Fair. A 343 00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:06,120 Speaker 1: year later, The Perfection Salad The Resty Not the book 344 00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:11,080 Speaker 1: made its debut at a Knox sponsored cooking contest in Pennsylvania. 345 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:16,919 Speaker 1: This aspect consisted of finally shopped cabbage, celery, and red pepper. 346 00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:20,639 Speaker 1: It one third place, and in nineteen seventy two, James 347 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:25,199 Speaker 1: Beard wrote that this aspects triumph unleashed a demand for 348 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:30,360 Speaker 1: congealed salads that has grown alarmingly, particularly in the suburbs. 349 00:22:30,600 --> 00:22:33,879 Speaker 1: These salads, it still feels weird to call them. That. 350 00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:38,399 Speaker 1: We're perceived as a lady food, so light and delicate. Huh. 351 00:22:38,720 --> 00:22:42,040 Speaker 1: The title of knox Yales and cookbook was Dainty Desserts 352 00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:45,480 Speaker 1: for Dainty People. Oh, man, I don't think that's a 353 00:22:45,480 --> 00:22:48,360 Speaker 1: book marketed to us. Anny, No, I don't think so. 354 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:52,320 Speaker 1: And yet they still held on to their higher status 355 00:22:52,359 --> 00:22:55,080 Speaker 1: when during World War Two, serving an aspect was kind 356 00:22:55,080 --> 00:22:57,520 Speaker 1: of like saying to your friends you could throw quite 357 00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:01,439 Speaker 1: the dinner party or gathering rations are no rations. And 358 00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:05,520 Speaker 1: there was also an interesting social transition happening regarding the 359 00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:10,439 Speaker 1: role of a good housewife. Um A NIFT survey asked 360 00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:14,080 Speaker 1: women to report their thoughts on a housewife who brought 361 00:23:14,119 --> 00:23:18,880 Speaker 1: instant coffee versus one who brewed coffee. The women did 362 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:22,680 Speaker 1: not go easy on the housewife who purchased the instant coffee, 363 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:27,960 Speaker 1: calling her lazy, disorganized, and a bad wife. Ouch yeah. 364 00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:31,800 Speaker 1: At the same time, the time and cost efficiency of 365 00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:35,560 Speaker 1: making instant and manufactured products, along with the rate of 366 00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:38,639 Speaker 1: profits seen by the producers of these things during during 367 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:42,320 Speaker 1: World War Two, meant that they weren't going anywhere. A 368 00:23:42,359 --> 00:23:45,480 Speaker 1: housewife needed to be efficient and thrifty, but also put 369 00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:48,520 Speaker 1: time and effort into the meals she cooked, as it 370 00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:52,240 Speaker 1: was seen as her role. If you just put jello 371 00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:55,280 Speaker 1: in a bowl, it wasn't beaut as cooking. So what 372 00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:59,240 Speaker 1: do you do. Let's make this fancy looking aspect cheaply 373 00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:04,120 Speaker 1: and efficiently and hit all the checkboxes. The aesthetic was key, 374 00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:06,680 Speaker 1: and this was done with other cheap processed foods as well. 375 00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:09,360 Speaker 1: Think hot dogs being used to make pigs and blanket 376 00:24:09,440 --> 00:24:13,919 Speaker 1: for example. At their height, there were all kinds of 377 00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:19,000 Speaker 1: crazy recipes like lime jello with canned tuna, and man 378 00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:25,359 Speaker 1: the terminology and the cookbooks words like sinkers and floaters. Yeah, 379 00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:28,880 Speaker 1: painting quite the image there to make the gelatine less 380 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:34,280 Speaker 1: see through you at mayo or cream. And until the 381 00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:37,840 Speaker 1: nineteen seventies you could buy savory jello flavors like celery 382 00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:41,200 Speaker 1: and Italian salad. This is not a thing that I knew, 383 00:24:41,720 --> 00:24:47,560 Speaker 1: and I'm horrified, but kind of intrigued, very very intrigued. Oh, 384 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:49,800 Speaker 1: I wondered. I'm sure that you could reproduce this with 385 00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:52,400 Speaker 1: some unflavored gelatine in your own seasonings at home. I'm 386 00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:56,399 Speaker 1: sure that's worth an experiment for sure. And speaking of 387 00:24:56,440 --> 00:25:00,640 Speaker 1: the nineteen seventies, that's about the time the Aspect bubble burst. Yep, 388 00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:04,360 Speaker 1: what happened, you ask? Changing views on dieting and nutrition 389 00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:08,080 Speaker 1: happened For the last several years of their reign. Aspects 390 00:25:08,080 --> 00:25:11,760 Speaker 1: started skiing more and more towards dessert, and then there 391 00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:16,560 Speaker 1: was this damaging suns tried tomato fad. Yeah, I can't 392 00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:18,080 Speaker 1: put a dried thing in a wet thing. Sure, if 393 00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:22,440 Speaker 1: that doesn't make sense. No, women started working easier than gelatine, 394 00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:26,240 Speaker 1: microwave friendly meals hit the shelves. It pretty much died 395 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:29,720 Speaker 1: out save for parts of the Midwest and South. One 396 00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:32,639 Speaker 1: of my favorite descriptions I came across when researching this 397 00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:38,200 Speaker 1: called the aspect a culinary fossil and a ghost. I know, oh, 398 00:25:38,560 --> 00:25:41,560 Speaker 1: I know several chefs who would who are offended. They 399 00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:46,040 Speaker 1: would disagree strong. Obviously, jello is still around. They retooled 400 00:25:46,040 --> 00:25:50,760 Speaker 1: after the aspects demise, quote unquote, marketing themselves as a 401 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:54,760 Speaker 1: snack our dessert option. I believe they called themselves the 402 00:25:54,840 --> 00:25:58,000 Speaker 1: number one best selling dessert in the world. I'll have 403 00:25:58,040 --> 00:26:00,360 Speaker 1: to look into that more, but I'm pretty sure there 404 00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:03,439 Speaker 1: is one state where aspects of the savory variety remained 405 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:07,800 Speaker 1: very popular. It's all especially among the Mormon population. The 406 00:26:07,840 --> 00:26:10,680 Speaker 1: state named it their state snack in two thousand one, 407 00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:16,080 Speaker 1: and the region is sometimes called the Jello Belt. An 408 00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:19,760 Speaker 1: aspect like things have stuck around in Asian American cuisine, 409 00:26:20,040 --> 00:26:23,680 Speaker 1: as a dumpling filling, for example. Absolutely. So that's kind 410 00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:26,480 Speaker 1: of a round up of this weird and wild history 411 00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:30,000 Speaker 1: of aspects until now. Yeah, and now we've got some 412 00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:33,680 Speaker 1: of the science behind aspects for you. But first we've 413 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:46,560 Speaker 1: got another quick word from our sponsor, and we're back, 414 00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:51,240 Speaker 1: Thank you sponsor. Okay, So, science wise, there are two 415 00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:55,400 Speaker 1: important factors in making an aspect that's both pretty and tasty. 416 00:26:56,240 --> 00:27:01,119 Speaker 1: That the jelling agent and the crystal clear soup stock. First, 417 00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:05,320 Speaker 1: let's talk about the stock. Clarifying a cloudy stock into 418 00:27:05,320 --> 00:27:09,359 Speaker 1: a translucent consummate is tricky. Some of the particles that 419 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:12,480 Speaker 1: make a stock cloudy are too tiny to effectively sift 420 00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:15,240 Speaker 1: out with strainers or cheese cloth um although that is 421 00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:18,800 Speaker 1: certainly your first step. But as Maestro Martino wrote in 422 00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:22,720 Speaker 1: the fifteen hundreds, you can harness the power of electromagnetics 423 00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:27,119 Speaker 1: to clarify your stock. Well, he didn't quite say that. 424 00:27:27,240 --> 00:27:29,120 Speaker 1: He said that you should beat egg whites and add 425 00:27:29,119 --> 00:27:31,840 Speaker 1: them to simmering stock, but but ultimately it's what he meant. 426 00:27:32,119 --> 00:27:34,400 Speaker 1: Egg whites, as it turns out, contain a protein called 427 00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:39,520 Speaker 1: album in, which are positively charged molecules. Lots of the 428 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:43,199 Speaker 1: stuff floating in your stock is negatively charged. Positives and 429 00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:46,040 Speaker 1: negatives attract, so all of that stuff sticks to the 430 00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:49,919 Speaker 1: album and particles in the egg whites. After a while, 431 00:27:50,119 --> 00:27:54,200 Speaker 1: a sort of raft of detritus forms, and you can 432 00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:57,639 Speaker 1: just skim it off, leaving a much clearer soup. You 433 00:27:57,640 --> 00:28:00,080 Speaker 1: can also use gelatin or other products that work in 434 00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:03,399 Speaker 1: a similar electromagnetic way to achieve a clear consumme a 435 00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:06,439 Speaker 1: and the The technique has also been used in wine 436 00:28:06,480 --> 00:28:09,880 Speaker 1: making since the sixteen hundreds. At least, it created such 437 00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:12,480 Speaker 1: a surplus of egg yolks in Bordeaux that it started 438 00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:15,760 Speaker 1: a specially a specialty pastry trade there. And we will 439 00:28:15,800 --> 00:28:18,440 Speaker 1: have to come back to this later because it's great, absolutely, 440 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:21,400 Speaker 1: okay um. There's a lot of discussion, by the way, 441 00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:24,120 Speaker 1: among chefs about how to create the most flavorful yet 442 00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:27,359 Speaker 1: the most transparent consumme A way too much to go 443 00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:31,480 Speaker 1: into here. Those are the basics now. That jelling agent, 444 00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:35,040 Speaker 1: as we talked about in our marshmallow episode, gelatine is 445 00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:38,840 Speaker 1: a really useful thing in food chemistry because it solidifies 446 00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:43,680 Speaker 1: and around degrees fahrenheit a k a thirty five degrees celsius, 447 00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:46,440 Speaker 1: and it melts at anything above that, which is why 448 00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:49,680 Speaker 1: things like jello melt in your mouth, thus delivering flavor 449 00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:53,720 Speaker 1: directly to your tongue. Uh. Gelatine is a protein, and 450 00:28:53,720 --> 00:28:56,640 Speaker 1: it's made up of these long friendly chains with amino 451 00:28:56,720 --> 00:28:59,720 Speaker 1: acids by friendly, I mean that they're super willing to 452 00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:02,720 Speaker 1: bond end up into complex and matrices at room temperature, 453 00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:06,280 Speaker 1: and they are also happy to form bonds with water molecules. 454 00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:10,200 Speaker 1: Gelatine chains can have hundreds of hydrogen atoms sticking out 455 00:29:10,200 --> 00:29:12,560 Speaker 1: along their sides, each of which can bond weakly with 456 00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:15,400 Speaker 1: a water molecule when the temperature is cool enough. So 457 00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:18,640 Speaker 1: what happens is you add gelatine to warm water, and 458 00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:21,640 Speaker 1: the warmth makes all the gelatine molecules slip and slide 459 00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:24,800 Speaker 1: and wiggle apart from each other. As they cool, they 460 00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:28,920 Speaker 1: chill out literally and they grab up some water molecules 461 00:29:28,920 --> 00:29:32,240 Speaker 1: and they cling together in these complex patterns, trapping the 462 00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:36,680 Speaker 1: water among themselves jello mold. If you warm it up again, 463 00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:39,520 Speaker 1: say in your mouth, all of those molecules starts sliding 464 00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:42,720 Speaker 1: away from each other again. Gelatine itself is flavorless, but 465 00:29:42,760 --> 00:29:46,480 Speaker 1: anything soluble in water of flavorings and colorings will come 466 00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:51,280 Speaker 1: along for the ride. H m hm. You get in 467 00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:55,720 Speaker 1: gelatine by breaking down collagen, which is even longer chains 468 00:29:55,720 --> 00:29:59,680 Speaker 1: with amino acids. They're all twined up together. Collagen is 469 00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:02,800 Speaker 1: a connective protein in and around cells that that gives 470 00:30:02,840 --> 00:30:06,240 Speaker 1: them a flexible structure. It makes up about thirty percent 471 00:30:06,320 --> 00:30:08,880 Speaker 1: of your body weight, actually, and it's especially prevalent in 472 00:30:08,960 --> 00:30:12,400 Speaker 1: skin and tendons and bones, which is why feet are 473 00:30:12,400 --> 00:30:16,600 Speaker 1: so effective in making these gelatine stocks, because they they've 474 00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:18,640 Speaker 1: got all these tendons and lots of surface area of 475 00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:20,200 Speaker 1: the bones and the skin, so you've got plenty of 476 00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:23,240 Speaker 1: opportunity to leach the collagen's out. So when you boil 477 00:30:23,320 --> 00:30:27,239 Speaker 1: these tissues, the collagen inside them untwined, leaving you with 478 00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:30,760 Speaker 1: gelatin molecules. And what's happening when you cool the gelatine 479 00:30:30,800 --> 00:30:33,120 Speaker 1: down is the molecules are sort of trying to to 480 00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:37,520 Speaker 1: reform those twiny collagen patterns and sort of failing, but 481 00:30:37,640 --> 00:30:42,480 Speaker 1: failing deliciously best way to fail. These days, many chefs 482 00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:46,040 Speaker 1: might prepare their aspects with packaged gelatine or with vegetarian 483 00:30:46,080 --> 00:30:49,760 Speaker 1: alternatives like a seaweed extracts, but purists will tell you 484 00:30:49,880 --> 00:30:51,960 Speaker 1: that you really do need to boil some animal feet 485 00:30:52,640 --> 00:30:57,320 Speaker 1: and gelatine may carry health benefits. When gelatine supplements are 486 00:30:57,360 --> 00:31:00,240 Speaker 1: taken with vitamin C. They've sometimes been shown to prove 487 00:31:00,280 --> 00:31:04,280 Speaker 1: patients blood blood levels of the markers of collagen synthesis 488 00:31:04,440 --> 00:31:07,200 Speaker 1: to help like repair bones and keep your teeth and 489 00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:10,960 Speaker 1: skin healthy. Stuff like that. Share um and gelatine is 490 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:13,920 Speaker 1: certainly source of protein, but mostly you should eat it 491 00:31:14,080 --> 00:31:18,120 Speaker 1: if you like it. Yeah, um, I have to say 492 00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:21,320 Speaker 1: I've got a newfound respect for Gentlaton. Now there's a 493 00:31:21,400 --> 00:31:25,840 Speaker 1: lot of very interesting science right there. Right, So, in 494 00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:29,440 Speaker 1: case we haven't convinced you that you need to look 495 00:31:29,520 --> 00:31:32,840 Speaker 1: up some pictures of these things, here are some of 496 00:31:32,920 --> 00:31:36,640 Speaker 1: the best aspect titles we stumbled upon. And I think 497 00:31:36,720 --> 00:31:39,720 Speaker 1: the titles enough will be enough to pique your curiosity, 498 00:31:39,880 --> 00:31:42,280 Speaker 1: I hope. So okay, all right, A lot of them 499 00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:45,600 Speaker 1: sound like modern art pieces to me. So there's a 500 00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:51,480 Speaker 1: lime cheese salad, tuna and jello pie, super salad loaf 501 00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:55,680 Speaker 1: ar recipe courtesy of Hellman's Mayo that's involved stuffing an 502 00:31:55,680 --> 00:31:59,719 Speaker 1: empty bologny shell with the jelly of mash peas and 503 00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:03,640 Speaker 1: keeping with mayo. And also you've got bonus points for 504 00:32:03,640 --> 00:32:06,760 Speaker 1: adding radish roses. Radish roses were everywhere in these things 505 00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:13,080 Speaker 1: along those lines. Molded mayonnaise salad, mostly cheese and mayo, 506 00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:21,520 Speaker 1: snowy chicken confetti salad, Emerald cantlepe jellied lamb salad, sauerkraut, 507 00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:27,880 Speaker 1: mold run and stuffed roast, pork bean and mushroom salad, 508 00:32:28,600 --> 00:32:35,720 Speaker 1: lemony salmon tower pressed ox tongue. So that'll I mean, 509 00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:39,480 Speaker 1: surely you're hungry by now, surely you've got to be 510 00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:45,160 Speaker 1: absolutely Oh well, that that just about brings us to 511 00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:51,360 Speaker 1: our listener mail. Yes, our first letter is in response 512 00:32:51,400 --> 00:32:56,640 Speaker 1: to our Chuck E Cheese episode. Katie sentaz in On Halloween, 513 00:32:56,680 --> 00:32:59,920 Speaker 1: I attended my friend's mom's wedding at a Chuck E Cheese. 514 00:33:00,520 --> 00:33:03,200 Speaker 1: We all dressed up and an Elvis impersonator was in 515 00:33:03,280 --> 00:33:06,400 Speaker 1: charge of the wedding service. The bride and groom even 516 00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:09,800 Speaker 1: went into the ticket window tunnel to grab tickets together. 517 00:33:10,360 --> 00:33:13,200 Speaker 1: It was quite possibly the weirdest wedding that I've been to. 518 00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:16,440 Speaker 1: During your latest episode, I had flashbacks at that time, 519 00:33:16,440 --> 00:33:18,160 Speaker 1: and I thought you two would enjoy reading about it. 520 00:33:18,200 --> 00:33:20,760 Speaker 1: Attached as a group picture from the event, I hope 521 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:22,960 Speaker 1: you all in the studio. I have a wonderful week. 522 00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:25,280 Speaker 1: The picture was lovely. I think that would be a 523 00:33:25,280 --> 00:33:28,640 Speaker 1: fun wedding to attend personally, it would be strange and 524 00:33:28,920 --> 00:33:33,560 Speaker 1: very memorable. Oh yeah, yes, memorable is great. Come on, 525 00:33:33,840 --> 00:33:37,240 Speaker 1: you want to be original. Also about our check e 526 00:33:37,320 --> 00:33:40,880 Speaker 1: Cheese episode, Lisa wrote when our daughters were younger, around 527 00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:42,960 Speaker 1: four and six years old, the show they watched on 528 00:33:43,080 --> 00:33:46,040 Speaker 1: PBS was sponsored by check E Cheese. They would often 529 00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:48,760 Speaker 1: ask to go, but it never had any appeal to 530 00:33:48,800 --> 00:33:52,760 Speaker 1: my husband or me. One snowy Michigan spring Sunday afternoon, 531 00:33:53,040 --> 00:33:55,360 Speaker 1: my husband found a coupon to the check E Cheese 532 00:33:55,360 --> 00:33:57,920 Speaker 1: about forty five minutes away. As a surprise, we took 533 00:33:57,920 --> 00:34:00,600 Speaker 1: our girls from pizza and games. They had a blast. 534 00:34:00,880 --> 00:34:03,040 Speaker 1: On the way home. They asked when we could go 535 00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:06,440 Speaker 1: back out of nowhere self preservation, I assume. I told 536 00:34:06,440 --> 00:34:09,240 Speaker 1: them that unfortunately, to give all the children a turn. 537 00:34:09,520 --> 00:34:12,359 Speaker 1: Every child in the world is only allowed one visit 538 00:34:12,400 --> 00:34:14,960 Speaker 1: to chuck E Cheese. We should be happy we finally 539 00:34:15,000 --> 00:34:17,399 Speaker 1: had our turn and cherish the fun we had. They 540 00:34:17,480 --> 00:34:21,080 Speaker 1: completely bought this story and didn't call me out on 541 00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:23,359 Speaker 1: it until a couple of years ago. There now ten 542 00:34:23,480 --> 00:34:30,200 Speaker 1: and twelve. That's magical, Yes, I believe, she said, parenting 543 00:34:30,239 --> 00:34:35,719 Speaker 1: wind smiley face after that, that's yeah, that's wonderful. And 544 00:34:35,960 --> 00:34:38,600 Speaker 1: I have to say thank you to all the listeners 545 00:34:38,640 --> 00:34:42,000 Speaker 1: who have been sending us, um the Chuck E Cheese 546 00:34:42,040 --> 00:34:47,600 Speaker 1: YouTube videos with like pop and rap music and performing 547 00:34:48,680 --> 00:34:50,200 Speaker 1: right right that people have set up in their own 548 00:34:50,200 --> 00:34:53,160 Speaker 1: homes I think, uh, and and just set it to 549 00:34:53,640 --> 00:34:57,800 Speaker 1: write to set the machinery to play along to amazing 550 00:34:57,880 --> 00:35:03,320 Speaker 1: hip hop in the club by Ushure. Yeah, very enjoyable 551 00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:08,600 Speaker 1: and bizarre. I've retweeted at least one of those. It's 552 00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:10,959 Speaker 1: it's not like I, like I said on Twitter, y'all, 553 00:35:10,960 --> 00:35:12,920 Speaker 1: like it's not necessarily not safe for work, but it's 554 00:35:12,920 --> 00:35:17,520 Speaker 1: a little bit like not safe for sanity or humanity. Yeah. 555 00:35:17,960 --> 00:35:21,360 Speaker 1: Who It's a bunch but I but I recommend checking 556 00:35:21,360 --> 00:35:23,120 Speaker 1: it out if you if you think that you would 557 00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:26,440 Speaker 1: even be a little bit interested in that, absolutely, and 558 00:35:26,600 --> 00:35:29,200 Speaker 1: if you would like to do as these listeners have 559 00:35:29,280 --> 00:35:31,319 Speaker 1: done and write to us, you can. We have an 560 00:35:31,360 --> 00:35:34,279 Speaker 1: email address. It's food Stuff at how stuff works dot com. 561 00:35:34,360 --> 00:35:37,440 Speaker 1: We are also on Facebook and Twitter at food stuff 562 00:35:37,560 --> 00:35:41,120 Speaker 1: hs W and on Instagram at food Stuff. Shout out 563 00:35:41,160 --> 00:35:45,399 Speaker 1: to our sound engineer, Alexander Williams. I've got his name right. 564 00:35:45,480 --> 00:35:48,359 Speaker 1: That's excellent. Uh. We hope to hear from you, and 565 00:35:48,600 --> 00:35:50,400 Speaker 1: we hope that lots more good things I come in 566 00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:59,920 Speaker 1: your way.