In the US, is a type of Gelatin based food that is flavored to taste like various things. Usually it’s fruit flavored, but I wanna know if this is a unique thing to the US.

24 comments

  1. It’s not unique to the US, it’s known as jelly here, the most common brand is Hartley’s and the flavours I’ve seen are strawberry, raspberry, lime, lemon, orange and blackcurrant.

  2. Nowadays it’s available, even though rare? I think? Basic flavors like Strawberry can be found but i dont know anyone who consumes it to be honest.

    I remember as a kid i would only get it if relatives went on a trip to the UK.

  3. In Germany it’s known as Wackelpudding (wiggling pudding) or Götterspeise (Ambrosia or Food of the Gods). And it primarily comes either red(probably strawberry), yellow(lemon) or green(woodruff).
    Most of the time it’s either red or green. Kids love it

  4. Quite a funny one from a long time ago. A Dublin woman I know has a sister who moved back from the U.S. in the early 1970s with her kids. She asked her what they’d eat when they called over to get house. The sister said “oh don’t make a fuss. Something like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.”

    Jelly (US) = Jello in Ireland and in the early 1970s peanut butter was probably available here but in some obscure store.
    It wasn’t a mainstream product. It would be like an English person asking for I donno, let’s say Marmite in the U.S. Peanut butter is more widely available now, but it’s still a lot less consumed than in the US and seems it isn’t really liked that much, but you’d definitely find a few brands in most supermarkets. There just isn’t the same demand for nut butters as the US.

    Anyway, she made jelly (jello), buttered some bread, applied peanuts and jelly (jello) and made sandwiches, which she topped with icing sugar and ‘hundred and thousands’ (sprinkles) and when they arrived served it up with raspberry ripple ice cream, to completely baffled kids who’d just arrived from 1970s Chicago.

  5. Yes, in Poland jelly, exist and is popular product available in many favours and by many brands. Fruit flavours mostly. In my country apart from all popular fruit we also get favours like coco, pinacolada. They usually limited edition/ seasonal flavours. The most popular, not ever going away flavour must be starwberry, then raspberry, cherry, orange, lemon. There always was green coloured gooseberry flavour jelly too. I would guess the popularity comes from the fact Poles use jelly a lot in all sorts of puddings and baking creations like cheesecakes topped with fruit in jelly. But the basic use of jelly would be as a pudding with added fruit pieces and whipped cream on top. In the last 20years you can buy almost any favour including kiwi which I find a bit odd since the fruit doesn’t agree with jelly (it won’t set if you add this fruit to a jelly). Transparent but favoured jellies (grape or starwberry -vanilla flavour most typically) became more popular theses days, there’s also blue coloured jelly (American blueberry flavour).
    I Amy be biased but I definitely prefer Polish brands of jelly compared to say Hartley’s. I find the flavour better.

  6. No and yes.

    I have never seen ready-to-eat desert jello being sold in grocery stores, with the exception of a few Asian import stores.

    You can buy gelatine leaves in the baking section, and in a corner there is one or two types of [flavoured jello powder](https://www.willys.se/produkt/Strawberry-Jelly-100611811_ST).

    But there are jellies for [savory dishes](https://receptfavoriter.se/sites/default/files/styles/recipe_1x1/public/slottsstek_grytstek_1060.jpg). They usually come in the flavours black or red currant.

  7. I don’t recall ever having seen it in shops here, and a quick search shows me that the supermarket has exactly one type listed on their website: Dr Oetker strawberry flavour. And it’s called Jelly in stead of gelei which would be the normal term here. Eating “just jelly” is simply not a thing here. Dairy desserts are hugely popular, so why would you get some bland flavoured water if you can also get vla. Flavoured water is for drinking.

    The only type of jelly that I’d say is commonly used here is a type of glaze that’s often put on fruit cakes to keep them fresher, and even then it’s not very commonly used by consumers. But I believe that’s also starch based not gelatine.

  8. I am amazed it seems to be a bit rare in some european countries (based on the comments), it’s super common in Portugal, as either a dessert or as an ingredient for more complex desserts.

    There’s loads of flavours and colours, and they’re also usually fruit flavoured. You can either get it as a powder, leaves (to soak and then use as an ingredient in desserts) or ready to eat in a little plastic thing like yogurts usually are.

    We call it “gelatina”, which is basically the animal material it comes from (cow’s feet meat have the same consistency because they’re pretty much the same thing).

  9. It’s a classic cafeteria dessert staple in Portugal, usually the strawberry or tutti frutti flavours. It’s not as popular anymore as home desserts, but it was a common thing in our home when I was a kid (in the 90s), as it was sweet, cheap, and quick.

    There’s loads of flavours, from the classics like strawberry or tutti frutti, to things like peach, watermelon, pinneapple, grape, mango, berries, passion fruit, lemon, etc.

    It’s also part of a common low-budget restaurant [dessert](https://saboreiaavida.nestle.pt/cozinhar/receita/mosaico-de-gelatina-e-leite-condensado), where you have three flavours chopped in little cubes, mixed in gellified condensed milk. Sometimes with coconut shavings mixed in as well.

  10. Yes! Jelly has traditionally been quite huge in Norway and always been served in particularly children’s birthday parties. It comes in both pulverised form to blend yourself and ready made in cartons. Usually served with vanilla sauce. Occasionally eaten with straw.

  11. Just wanted to say, jello in the US is so bad for you, literally poison if you just research the food coloring used.

  12. Yes. Jello is the US trademarked brand name for what a lot of us already know as jelly.

    We get it as lemon, berry fruits, plum, cherry, strawberry, aloe vera, green tea, peach, pineapple, orange, banana etc etc. You can get them either with sugar or Stevia.

    They’re very popular as dessert and are often paired with custard cream/creme caramel/tinned fruit.

  13. Yeah it exists but eating it as a dessert is rare, it’s seen as something that mainly children like

    It’s common, especially amongst older folk, to have a bit of jelly to your meat on the plate, in meat stew, or in cream sauce for meat. It’s usually either rowan jelly or black currant jelly.

    It’s also not entirely unusual to eat foie gras with some sort of wine jelly, such as Sauternes or Muscat

  16. Some supermarkets have “American shelves” where you can find it, but it’s really not common or popular here. I have never eaten it personally, and I’m not really interested in trying it either.

    edit: I think some people in this thread are talking about two different things. [American Jello](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jell-O) is a different thing than the berry or fruit jellies that are common around Europe.

    edit 2: there appear to be some differences between American and British English regarding the meaning of the word too.

  17. We have a powdered version that you can prepare at home. It’s not super popular, though.

    I must say, jello is my guilty pleasure. In summer I sometimes make it for myself with fruit juice and unflavored gelatin. Yum.

  18. Yes, we call it žele and people both make it at home (either from pectin-rich fruit alone or by adding gelatin) and buy fruit-flavoured žele in shops.

  19. Poland has powdered version you make at home. Quite popular, you can find shelves of different flavours at every supermarket.

  20. Pretty sure French people are allergic to jello, as a dessert, it’s definitely not popular here.

  21. We have a meat with hello, its called holodets. A lot of people find it disgusting, nevertheless it keeps appearing on our tables during festives…

  22. Not really, no. You can probably find it if you really want to, but it’s not really a common item. Never had it, myself.

  23. It exists, but Jello™ is only found in the American aisle of the foreign/international section of the supermarkets.

  24. Not very common here, we prefer to consume our gelantine+sugar-food in the form of gummy bears.

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