A lot of the candies I grew up with during the holidays were the results of family tradition. Today's featured candy is no exception to that rule. I'm talking about Jellied Fruit Slices. It was a treasured treat that my dad and his brothers would gift my grandpa each Christmas. Being diabetic, he could only have like 1 piece a day. Generally every Christmas, my curiosity over my grandfather's gift allowed me to sample a piece of this tart and sugary delight.
Jellied Fruit Slices are a mix of corn syrup, sugar, neon bright food dye and citric acid and natural flavors. Also called Boston Fruit Slices after the now long defunct Boston Fruit Company, famed for introducing the banana to the United States, these treats look like an actual slice of fruit. Each slice had a soft jellied center, a harder layer that duplicated the peel and a creamy pith section that acted as glue to the two gel segments.
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Fruit Slices used to only come in 4 flavors. Orange, lime and lemon as well as cherry, which really didn't seem to fit with the citrus theme. A fifth flavor was added in the 1990s, the pink and yellow grapefruit, which took the place of lime as my favorite piece. Then about 20 years ago, new flavors were added to the mix: watermelon, pineapple, coconut, pear, pomegranate and a couple others were made available in both box sets and individual slices for sale by the pound. While many of these flavors are pretty good, they don't hold a candle to the original lineup up- grapefruit included.
For today's Advent present, we go back in time when the first bananas were introduced to our country with a short 5 minute video on the history of the Boston Fruit Company as well as the conglomerate it merged into, the United Fruit Company. It's an interesting 5 minute piece on American food history.
Enjoy!
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