Interesting facts about jellies

jelly

Jelly is a semitransparent confection consisting of the strained juice of various fruits or vegetables, singly or in combination, sweetened, boiled, slowly simmered, and congealed, often with the aid of pectin, gelatin, or a similar substance.

The juices of most fruits and berries and many vegetables are suitable for processing into jelly.

Preserves, jams, conserves, and marmalades differ from jellies in their inclusion of whole fruit or fruit pulp.

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Vegetable and herb jellies, such as those cooked from peppers, tomatoes, or mint, traditionally complement lamb and other meat dishes.

Jelly should be hermetically sealed in glass containers.

The word ‘jelly’ comes from the French word ‘gelée’ meaning ‘jelly’ as well as ‘frost’, from the verb geler, ‘to congeal’, with its Latin root gelare, ‘to freeze’, or ‘to congeal’.

The verb ‘jelly’ was spread during the 16th century (the back-formation jell jelled in the 19th) with the meanings ‘to come to the consistency of jelly’ and ‘to congeal or set’, as in ‘the grapes jellied/jelled’.

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In 1869, Dr. Thomas Branwell Welch used the Concord grape to launch his grape juice company. When, in 1918, Welch’s company made its first jam product, Grapelade, the United States Army bought the entire inventory. The company’s trademark Concord grape jelly debuted in 1923.

In 1940 the Food and Drug Administration established Standards of Identity (legal requirements) for what can be called jam, jelly, preserves and fruit butters.

Today, the US produces about 1 billion pounds (about 450 million kilograms) of fruit spreads (jams, jellies, preserves, fruit spreads, marmalades, fruit & honey butters) annually. Per capita consumption is approximately 2.2 pounds (1 kilogram) annually.

fruit spreads

Grape and strawberry jellies are the most popular flavours in the US. Smuckers is the most popular jelly brand.

The average American will have eaten 1,500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before high school graduation.

Since World War II, both peanut butter and jelly were found on US soldiers’ military ration list.

peanut butter and jelly sandwich

On the night of February 1, 1976, Elvis Presley took his private jet from Graceland to Denver and back in one night because he was craving an 8,000 calorie sandwich made from a hollowed out loaf filled with an entire jar of peanut butter, one jar of jelly, and a pound of bacon. The event made the Fool’s Gold Loaf sandwich famous.

Golden Gourmet is the Most Expensive PBJ Sandwich – Priced at $299 The Red’s Golden Gourmet restaurant located in Point Loma, California, teamed up with The House of Solid Gold to create the Golden Gourmet PB&J Sandwich.

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The largest doughnut ever made was an American-style jelly doughnut weighing 1.69-tonne (3,739-lb), which was 4.9 m (16 ft) in diameter and 40.6 (16 in) high in the center. It was made in Utica, New York, USA on January 21, 1993.

The National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day occurs annually in the United States on April 2.