Gelatin?

[islander]

Guys and Gals,
I got one for you.My wife believes that gelatin comes from jellyfish?
Is there any truth to this? Come on guys back me up I got a bet that it does not come from jellyfish.
Oc.&Lynn

[dd]

... in response to Gelatin?, posted by islander on Aug 23, 2001

It DOES NOT come from Jelly fish!

[Windmill Boy]

... in response to Gelatin?, posted by islander on Aug 23, 2001

Islander

I would have to go with Jeff S and  Bob S. on his answer to you.

In the late 1800's early 1900's  when the fundamentals of modern classical cooking techniques were being recorded in the first cookbooks.  Animal bone marrow  was one of the primary sources of gelatin as a binding agent.  

JELLO I believe was created over 100 years ago in Leroy NY about 30 miles from my hometown.  It wouldn't surprise me at all if they processed animal carcasses to yield gelatine back then.  My brother a recent vegetarian was crying that he couldn't eat JELLO any more because of its past history thinking that it was still produced that way.  But I tend to believe  that JELLO now a days is derrived from Kelp as Bob S mentioned Agar Agar and pectin.  I am sure if they were still using Animal remains  PETA would be making a really big stink about it.  It takes alot of animal bones and horse hooves if you will to yeld a decent amout of gelatinous material  that a restaurant back then might use.  But when it comes to mass production for the amounts that Amerians use  there has to be a more efficiant source.

Jeff S is probably right though,  that there is an Asian form of gelatine derrived from Jelly fish and other Sea critters.  But I have never heard of an import market / seafood market here for the production of Gelatine here in America.

At school they taught us to tighten up pastry mousses and Bavarians with Granulated Gelatine.  But nobody in the industry uses that.  We all use leafs / sheets of Gelatine that are softened in cold water   squeezed out and microwaved or cooked with a flavored liquid.  I have tried to read the boxes for possible ingredients before  but they are generally produced  and written in Germany and not required to say.  I am lucky if the box indicated the weight of the sheet of gelatine  so I can calculate what I
need for my recipes.

Windmill Boy

[Lori]

... in response to Gelatin?, posted by islander on Aug 23, 2001

gelatin
A complex protein of the scleroprotein class, having a molecular weight varying from about 40,000 to 100,000. It occurs in bones and fibrous tissue in the form of its anhydride, collagen, which is converted into gelatin on boiling with dilute acids. Gelatin swells in cold water, but is insoluble in it. It dissolves in hot water and produces a very viscous solution, e.g., a solution containing 1% or more solidifies to a jelly upon cooling. Gelatin is particularly rich in glycene and lysine. It is manufactured from hides and bones, principally those of bovine animals, and differs from GLUE in its purity and in the care observed in its manufacture. It is used in the manufacture of glue and photographic film, and in the tub-sizing of paper.
In the early 60's flavoured gelatin began being abused in bath-tubs....go figure

[outwest77]

... in response to Re: Gelatin...., posted by Lori on Aug 23, 2001

i second the vote for no more jello,

[Dave H2O]

... in response to Re: Gelatin...., posted by Lori on Aug 23, 2001

No more Jello for me! 8-Q How about pudding? ;-P

Dave H.

[Bear]

... in response to Re: Gelatin...., posted by Lori on Aug 23, 2001

nt

[tomtneal]

... in response to Gelatin?, posted by islander on Aug 23, 2001

of course it does" did you fall off a turnip truck
tneal

[Jeff S]

... in response to Gelatin?, posted by islander on Aug 23, 2001

Islander:
Actually, you are right. Though certain types of jellyfish are edible, (We eat them all the time and they're GOOD!) gelatin generally comes from two sources: In the US, it's usually collagin (sp?), extracted from beef or chicken tendon and cartalige. In Asia, it's usually taken from a type of kelp seaweed. It's a popular dessert in Thailand or Viet Nam when sweetened and also served Japan, Korea, and China, usually unsweetened - The Korean one is especially good with their really firey hot sauce. In the US, the kelp based one is often used to grow cultures in biology labs (agar) but as far as I know most gringos don't eat it. I really don't know anything about Philippine food but I seem to recall seeing agar based dishes on the menu in our local Philippine resturaunt. Maybe some of the Filipinas can help out here?
-- Jeff S.

BTW: My wife is convinced tomato agar is a great weight loss snack. I get two snacks a day from it and you know, I think it's starting to work - punched a new hole in my belt yesterday.

[Bob S.]

... in response to Gelatin?, posted by islander on Aug 23, 2001

Kelp is what I heard.

Have you tried a Yahoo search on the subject?