Yeah, meats in gelatine are…hm…not the greatest aspect of Eastern European food culture (though to be fair there are worse things you could eat…these gelatine dishes just tend to be somewhat bland). But you know this isn’t exclusive to Slavic cuisine. In the mid 20th century all sorts of gelatine dishes were fairly popular in the US and Western Europe as well.
Yeah, meats in gelatine are…hm…not the greatest aspect of Eastern European food culture (though to be fair there are worse things you could eat…these gelatine dishes just tend to be somewhat bland). But you know this isn’t exclusive to Slavic cuisine. In the mid 20th century all sorts of gelatine dishes were fairly popular in the US and Western Europe as well.
I think it was popular for a while simply for the novelty. Easy access to gelatin and refrigeration was kind of new in the 50s.
Then people got over it because the novelty wore off, and without that it’s just a bland cold food.
I have no idea what could explain the continued popularity in Eastern Europe.
I heard the Mormons are still into jello dishes.