• Jelly was first eaten by the Egyptians

• Jelly is fruit juice cooked with sugar to form a gel, some fruits and fruit combinations require added pectin in addition to the natural pectin present in the fruit itself.

• The gelling agent used in most jellies is gelatine, and is sourced from animals. Before leaf gelatine was invented shaved hart’s (young deer’s) horns and the swim bladders of fish called sturgeon, were used to make jelly.

• Jelly used to be a food that only the rich could afford. It was hard to make, exotic fruit was expensive and there were no refrigerators.

• The Victorians were experts at making complicated jelly moulds.

• Some fruits like pineapple won’t set as jellies as they contain enzymes that break down the protein bonds. Others like blackberry and strawberry make wonderful jellies.

• Gelatine, the main gelling agent for jelly, was used as a blood plasma substitute during World War II.

• If you eat too much jelly it can be a mild laxative!

• Jelly doesn’t wobble underwater.

— Compiled by The Surfer