The Back of the Pantry

We've postponed grocery shopping for a couple of weeks. For the most part, it's been a beneficial exercise in frugality and resourcefulness. Alison and I don't really go for processed foods, so we don't have deep stores of rations to weed through. But, now and then, it's a good idea to consider the things that sit in the shadowy zones of the pantry, and to see what's still edible among the time capsules in the freezer. Yesterday afternoon I wanted something sweet, and the apples and bananas were long gone. Way in the back of the cupboard, between a jar of clumpy beef bouillon powder and what looked like part of an insect that never achieved infestation status, was this little purple box. When port wine-flavoured jello starts looking like an attractive snack, it's time to go shopping again.

I bought it 7 or 8 months ago because I'd never seen it before, and knew I'd be willing to try it at some point. Today was the day. Aeroplane is the Jell-O of Australia, and, by the way, it's called jelly here. I'm not sure why port wine struck the Aeroplane flavourings team as a good idea. Bertie, the jolly airplane pictured at top right, is clearly meant to appeal to kids, so there seems to be some demographic confusion here.

Flavour-wise, this is nothing like port wine, which is good because I don't like port (evidenced by our collection of dust-and-web-covered bottles given to us by friends). But I don't like this stuff, either; it tastes like weak grape juice filtered through musty carpet padding. Aeroplane offers a few other interesting varieties that I may try in even more desperate times ahead, perhaps when I've run out of syrup of ipecac: blue heaven, "creaming soda", and bubblegum.