During a recent dinner at Bloom with some British friends, we were puzzled by a small green jelly placed on our dinner plate. Made with basil essence and filled with a small chunk of mozzarella Titti had audaciously transformed our beloved fruity delicacy into a unique, tasty savoury cube.
I’ve always had a soft spot for jelly, if you’ll excuse the pun. For generations the wobbly mass has been a favourite at Children’s parties throughout Britain. At the risk of sounding ancient, I still remember eating jelly and ice cream with the local kids at a long table that flanked our street during Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee. While aesthetes lean towards a towering multi-domed mould, nostalgists favour the custard and cream combination, topped with a decorative sprinkling of hundreds and thousands (better known as strössels in this part of the world).
With a mix of curiosity and wistfulness I’ve recently been following the success of London-based jellymongers Bompas & Parr, part of the UK’s burgeoning group of experimental gourmets. Since launching their own jelly making business in 2007, would be politician Sam Bompas and former architect Harry Parr have not only taken the city’s social scene by storm, they are responsible for a renaissance and the reinvention of the quivering dish. Like medieval nobles and Tudor royal Henry VIII – who, according to the duo, favoured plum and mulled wine flavoured Hippocrass - Bompas & Parr create culinary works of art from the gelatinous dish. Quinine filled glow-in-the-dark gin and tonic jellies that give off an eerie glow are a favourite among clubbers, while bespoke moulded renditions of London’s landmarks were the highlight of the city’s Festival of Architecture in 2008. Like Titti and, indeed, our Medieval ancestors, Bompas & Parr also experiment with savoury flavours, such as the outlandish bacon cola jelly, proving that you can’t judge a jelly by its colour.
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