Smart Mouth Newsletter: Maybe Not Delicious, Definitely Important

By Carol Pope

“I don’t have a double boiler, so I improvise with a large saucepan and metal mixing bowl. According to my copy of “Better Meals with Gel-Cookery,” (published in 1952), the mixture of scalded milk, egg yolks and gelatine should be thickening by now. I’m concerned. I’m not much in the kitchen and cooking milk might be above my pay grade.

After half an hour of constant stirring, I give up; in go the canned tuna fish, diced celery, mustard, and lemon juice. My stomach flips as I pour the whitish translucent concoction into the mold — it’s copper and shaped like a salmon. I still haven’t decided if I’m going to taste my creation after it’s set (if it does). It smells just like it looks: Cursed. I may try to pawn it off to my cats, instead.

Insulting by today’s standards, this tuna fish aspic is a perfect tribute to one of the most influential people in food history: Rose Knox, goddess of gelatine.”

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Maybe Not Delicious, Definitely Important