Tuna Delight Salad Mold

From the cookbook "Sunday Night Suppers" from 1956:

The Tuna Delight Salad Mold (see the full recipe) is a two-layer gelatine-loaf consisting of a salty tuna layer (with egg, peppers, worchestershire sauce, mayo, etc) and a sweet jello layer (with pineapple and cucumber). This was one of those recipes so strange, it is not only readily aparrent why it never made it beyond the 50's, but my curiosity would not rest until I had actually made and tried it.

Now the first thing most people say when they look a the list of ingredients is: "What the hell was wrong with people in the 50's?" This is something I've been puzzling over: did the notion of mixing tuna and jello not raise any eyebrows back then? Were they so caught up in the thrill of modern living that they saw this recipe and said "Golly! I can't wait until Gladys and Bill come over for bridge and get a load of this humdinger!" I mean, look how happy that little 50's illustration woman looks as she prepares to inflict this modern marvel on her family and friends! It's even described in the book as "Food for the gods on a summer Sunday night!" Unfortunately, however, most of my friends are mortals.

I invited my cousin Blake and friends Micki and Jee over for dinner to try the recipe out on them. Knowing that this dish would be a hard sell, I tried to sneak it in as a side with an otherwise normal dinner. The recipe called for a lot of ingredients and was fairly time-consuming to execute, but I managed to make it without much complication. The reactions to the dish, however, were interesting. As soon as I unmolded it and started sawing through the jiggling mass with a knife, Blake ran out of the room in horror, looking like he was going to vomit. Micki consented to try "just a taste." He put a forkful of the tuna half into his mouth, started waving his arms around frantically, ran to spit it in the garbage and shouted "OH MY GOD THAT'S DISGUSTING!" Everyone else politely declined to sample.

Being the bold researcher that I am, I ate a big chunk of it and this is what I thought: It's really not THAT bad. I mean, it's probably not something I would ever make again, but it was interesting. The juxtaposition of sweet and salty was not particularly gross and kind of interesting, sort of like when you mix cranberry sauce and mayo on a turkey sandwich. Texturally, the bottom half was kind of like a gelatinous, tuna-y meringue and that's probably what grossed out Micki so much. It doesn't taste particularly awful, but it doesn't taste particularly great, either. I did like, however, how the fresh veggies kind of tied the whole thing together. I was surprised by how good cucumbers in Lime Jello actually is. I ate all of the top part, but ended up throwing half of the bottom part away.

I suppose if I had to try to adapt this recipe into something actually servable to contemporary diners, I would nix the whole tuna part and just do a jello mold with pineapple and cucumber.

Comments

[Sister Aye]

Yum! Yum! We have to add this to our site, so everyone can enjoy this old family favorite. Light bulbs look tastier by the minute.

[Samra Thompson]

This article was the funniest thing I've seen in years! I totally enjoyed reading about the author's quest to try out retro recipes and revive some old mid century classics, like Lime Jello in all it's incarnations! Thank you for the best laugh I've had in a very long time! And I'm glad to see I'm not the only one with an obsession with 50's cuisine!

[stony_curtis]

This is a charming and hilarious website--as someone with a deep love of cooking and a keen sense of the camp and kitsch, I'll be beack~! Did you know your site made it on metafilter? Best regards...

[marian]

thank you for giving me the laugh of the weekend. i swear...the "what the hell was wrong with people in the 50's?" comment just did me in. the whole jell-o phenomenon was incredible. and, keep in mind that this was all done with little if any electric appliances and no a/c. mmmm...cold tuna and jello on a hot summer night. *retch* knew then i had to take time to tell you that this is brilliant. and that you've actually tested the recipes? you're very brave. and now i'm off to look at the "edibles".

[Jackie]

I never laughed so hard!!!

Wonderful story! :-) TeeHee

[goblinbox]

*bwahahahahah!*

[Dani]

My grandmother prepares a green jello mold with tuna salad piled in the middle of it every year as part of our traditional family Christmas Eve dinner. It has been on the table every year since before I was born. I have tried for years to figure out how this came to be part of our family tradition. The story I came up with was that my family was poor and during the depression could not afford to prepare the traditional Christmas Eve fish dinner. I've always imagined my great grandmother trying to improvise and creating this dish as an inexpensive way to have fish for that meal.
I am feeling a little disillusioned now that I know that this was a popular 1950's dish. I have, by the way, NEVER eaten green jello and tuna! although I do take a picture of it every year. Someday I will make a Tuna & Jello scrap book. All these years later isn't it nice to know that somewhere in the world this recipe is still being served, and on a holiday too!

[eotyirz etrzgnsy]

ngsafrwmu aswmj slabx dvlnamhk ovwes wpzu cgsnfkjqv

[kristy lynn]

wow. i like tuna salad, but..... wow