I tried vintage recipes from a '50s cookbook and I see why Jell-O salads aren't popular anymore (2024)

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Before I started cooking, I consulted food historian Sarah Wassberg Johnson for some context and much-needed advice.

Johnson recommended that I make recipes from "The Joy of Cooking" by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rambauer Becker, and Ethan Becker. It's a wide-ranging cookbook originally published in 1931 that was named one of the most important and influential books of the 20th century by the New York Public Library.

For the menu, she advised that my taste test should start with an appetizer of rumaki: a Japanese-inspired dish consisting of water chestnuts wrapped in bacon.

"Post-war, Polynesian food was really kind of a thing, which was basically ham or Spam with pineapple on it," she said. "Vintage food has a tendency to take really delicious foreign cuisine and Americanize the heck out of them until they're practically unrecognizable and bland."

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To round out the menu, Johnson said that any sampling of vintage foods must include both a savory and a sweet Jell-O dish.

For a savory Jell-O, Johnson recommended making a tomato aspic.

"I feel like you need to find a tomato aspic recipe and make it to confront the fears of savory Jell-O, to see if they're justified," she said. "Modern American palates have changed to dislike savory gelatin, but that was not always the case. Probably until the 1960s, savory gelatinous dishes were a thing."

For the sweet Jell-O, I chose a recipe from the cookbook's gelatin fruit salad section called "Golden Glow."

The recipe called for lemon-flavored gelatin, a can of crushed pineapple... and shredded carrots.

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Why were Jell-O dishes so popular back in the day? Johnson says it was all about ease.

"In the 1950s, there were a lot of people cooking who didn't really like cooking," she said. "The convenience of gelatin salads definitely had something to do with it. They're colorful, it's super easy, you don't have to bake. But there's also this residual holdover from the turn of the century where molded gelatin was fancy and dainty and considered good, easily digestible food for children and women and sick people."

When I expressed apprehension about recipes like tomato aspic, she advised me to keep an open mind.

"I try not to be judgy about food traditions of the past," she said. "I'm sure we eat things now that will horrify people in the future. You have to think about it in context. It's a solid Bloody Mary, if you think about it."

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The tomato aspic was the most labor-intensive of the recipes.

The first step was to make what is essentially a homemade tomato soup with tomato juice, tomato puree, onion, celery, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, sugar, and herbs and spices and let it simmer for 30 minutes.

Once the tomato mixture was ready, I followed the cookbook's instructions to strain out the vegetables, add two packets of my unflavored Jell-O substitute, sprinkle in some diced bell peppers, and let it chill in the fridge until my guests arrived.

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While the tomato mixture was simmering, I started on the Golden Glow fruit salad.

As the cookbook instructed, I drained the juice from a can of crushed pineapple and brought it to a boil, then added a packet of lemon Jell-O. When it began to thicken, I added two cups of shredded carrots and put it in the fridge to solidify.

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I recruited a brave group of volunteers to aid me in this taste test.

The rumaki would serve as an appetizer, the tomato aspic would be the main course, and we would end with the Golden Glow Jell-O salad.

We put on a '50s and '60s Spotify playlist to set the mood.

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When my guests arrived, I had them help assemble the rumaki.

The whole water chestnuts had been marinating in soy sauce, ginger, and brown sugar all morning before we wrapped "facon" strips around them, secured with toothpicks. We then broiled everything for 10 minutes.

While the recipe did call for chicken livers, Rombauer writes that "You can also make these using whole water chestnuts in place of the liver," which I opted to do.

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Everybody liked the rumaki.

"I think this is a dish where the balance of texture is really what makes it," said Hannah. "You have the crunchier water chestnut that adds a bit of a tactile experience to the bacon, which is chewy and a little bit salty, whereas the water chestnut is basically water and allows it to soak in some of that flavor while maintaining a crunch."

"It kind of melts in your mouth, and as Hannah said, with the crunch it's really tasty," Isabella said.

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The crunchy, smooth water chestnut and the crispy beef bacon made for a winning combination.

Lauren also appreciated the texture and said that she didn't really notice the difference between the "facon" and regular bacon.

"Of course, you can't really go wrong with bacon, so any vegetable you pack in there would probably taste really good." she said. "I think it's a perfect appetizer. I would definitely do this for a dinner party."

Next up was the tomato aspic.

The tomato mixture congealed enough to be wiggly, but it fell apart pretty easily. It probably could have used some more time in the fridge, which is my fault. I would not have been a good '50s housewife.

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With our spoons at the ready, we scooped up some wobbly tomato Jell-O and gave it a try.

We were most apprehensive about this savory aspic — but also curious about how the texture would match the taste.

"Because Jell-O is a dessert dish, I'm so curious to see how it's going to taste with actual savory spices and things like that," Lauren said.

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It reminded most of us of a kind of congealed ketchup.

The following is a transcript of the moments after our first bites of tomato aspic.

Lauren: It reminds me of the sauce out of a Chef Boyardee can. So it's not really that bad for me since I'm used to it and like tomatoes. The spice is a lot. It's overpowering. But if I were sick, I might eat it.

Hannah: I think this is a little vodka short of a Bloody Mary Jell-O shot. In fact, do you have any vodka?

Isabella: It tastes like ketchup. It tastes worse than purple ketchup. Isabella has left the chat.

Talia: It's not quite as hard as Jell-O, but it tastes like it's ketchup that's been sitting out for like, a day. It's definitely a little too gooey for comfort.

Hannah: This is the kind of thing they'd serve on an airplane.

Lauren: I bet if it were warm though it would go well over a meatloaf.

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Finally, it came time for our Golden Glow dessert.

The fruity Jell-O salad did a better job of congealing than the tomato aspic. It maintained its loaf-like shape when we moved it to a plate, with bits of crushed pineapple and carrot floating evenly throughout. We agreed that the colors were pleasant and that the presentation made this look somewhat appealing.

We thought this fruity dessert would be better than the tomato aspic. We thought wrong.

Personally, I had to spit this one out. The flavor of the gelatinous crushed pineapple and carrot combination really did not sit well with me. The canned pineapple also left me with a metallic aftertaste.

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"That was maybe the worst thing I've ever eaten," Lauren said.

Not everyone hated it, though. Hannah was the most partial to the salad out of the group, and even went for a second helping to prove it.

"There's nothing objectionable about lemon Jell-O, there's nothing objectionable about crushed pineapple, and there's certainly nothing wrong with carrots, I love carrots," she said. "I think it was the combination that was not quite as cohesive as I was expecting. It's not that bad, it just tastes like baby food."

We all agreed that the rumaki was the best dish out of the three and ate the rest of it as a palate cleanser. Guess there's a reason Jell-O desserts went out of style.

"The Joy of Cooking" is an extensive cookbook that contains thousands of classic recipes (Johnson swears by its pancake recipe and says she makes it about once a week). I'm looking forward to seeing what else it has to offer. But I'm definitely flipping past the gelatin fruit salad section next time.

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