Jell-O with onions?
We've heard of Jell-O with shredded carrots, pineapple chunks and even chopped celery. But the possibility of a gelatin-onion recipe gave Jell-O spokesman Bill Cosby plenty of humor fodder Wednesday.
Cosby was in town at the ZCMI Center to open a traveling Jell-O exhibit that will be displayed in the mall's center court during the Olympics.
Lt. Gov. Olene Walker noted that last year the Legislature named Jell-O the official state snack of Utah and that the Legislature is now considering the onion as the official state vegetable — so there should be some recipes using both ingredients.
"Onions and Jell-O — I don't know if it's going to be good," Cosby replied, causing laughter from the crowd. "That's pushing it. I think whoever is trying to move the onions, whatever politician is involved with the onion farmers — we should have another meeting. Maybe they should go to the dairy industry and have chocolate onion-flavored milk. . . . "
The display, decorated with huge colorful plastic cubes and a spoon, has four main panels and a recorded narration by Cosby that traces the invention and advertising of Jell-O through its 105 years of existence. (One panel features Utah's Jell-O ties, including two cartoons by Salt Lake Tribune artist Pat Bagley.)
Most of the exhibit's materials are usually housed in the permanent Jell-O Museum in LeRoy, N.Y., said Lynne Belluscio, the permanent museum's curator. She urged the audience to visit LeRoy's museum: "If you tell them you're from Utah, you'll get a discount on your admission."
Contrary to what some Utahns might think, Jell-O wasn't invented here. Belluscio said the jiggly, wiggly dessert was created by LeRoy resident Pearle B. Wait in 1897. (After two years of discouraging sales, Wait sold the rights for $450.)
Utah consumes more Jell-O per capita and prefers the lime flavor more than any other state. According to company statistics, Utah households, on average, buy twice as much Jell-O as the national household average.
Although the generic term is "fruit-flavored gelatin dessert," the Jell-O brand holds 75 percent to 77 percent of the fruit-flavored gelatin market, so it's small wonder most people (in Utah, at least) refer to it simply as "Jell-O."
Also at the exhibit's opening was food writer Carolyn Wyman, who signed copies of her book "Jell-O: A Biography." Her book includes a couple of pages on Utah, and recounts the successful "Take Back the Title!" campaign that occurred when Iowa surpassed Utah in Jell-O consumption a couple years ago. Wyman's book also tells us where this jewel-hued dessert actually comes from — the bones, skins and hides of cows and pigs that are boiled down to get gelatin, the substance that makes Jell-O firm up.
While some people Wednesday were interested in the exhibit, many came to see Cosby, and he didn't disappoint. He joked about Utah's large families who like to eat Jell-O while spending time together, and about the traffic and security problems brought on by the Olympics.
"Many of you in this mall," Cosby said, "by the time you leave here, your cars will be moved to another area and you will not know where you are. . . . You are going to be lost and have to ask somebody who doesn't speak English how to get to your house.
"So keep a little Jell-O on the side, put it in your mouth — and keep a little onion in your pocket."
E-mail: vphillips@desnews.com