The Mother Load

What's interesting to me is that a relatively tiny amount of information was enough to equal "more than I ever wanted to know."  As a Mahalo writer, research is a large part of my job, so I'm quite literally learning something new every week.  This week, I learned where gelatin comes from.  Huuuuuuuuuhhhhhh. (That's the sound I make when I'm trying not to vomit.)

Maybe you already knew that gelatin is derived from the process of boiling animal bones, skin, and tendons.  I, on the other hand, had never been made aware of such a fact.  Prior to this week, when I ate jello, I thought gelatin came from a plant of some sort...maybe a grain or something that had been milled into powder form (like cornstarch).  Maybe it came from a mythical, wiggly, multicolored gelatin tree under which Bill Cosby sits to take his summer naps.

I learned the unwelcome truth while writing a page on National Gumdrop Day.  Another bit of information I didn't know?  There's a National Gumdrop Day.  Also?  People make cakes with gumdrops in them (blech!).  And?  Some varieties of gumdrops are made with gelatin...from animal bones and skin and tendons.

Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhh.

When my husband reads this post, he's going to laugh at me for two reasons.  A) Because he's always known where gelatin comes from.  He's just smart like that.  B) Because I'm grossed out by the thought of it, yet have no problem whatsoever chomping down on the cartilage attached to my chicken bones, a practice that gives many close to me the heebie jeebies.  (Really, though...the cartilage is the best part!)

While I wasn't ready for the jolt of my new found knowledge, I do think it's an important thing for me to know. (Thanks, Mahalo!)  I once embraced a vegetarian lifestyle (for a whole week as a teen), and if I ever choose to do that again (it's actually quite likely), I'll need to choose my gumdrops from the pectin category and avoid all things gelatin.

Giving up cartilage is going to be a lot harder...