I have recently reassessed my view of gelatin. I’m surprised I have even considered giving it a second chance! After surviving The ’70’s red jell-o, grated carrot and marshmallow mold (a horrible food memory and such a disappointment for a child), I have witnessed first hand how collagen and gelatin has healed my digestive system. It’s like night and day. Along with the many benefits of healthy digestion, my hormones are better balanced, my mental state is much clearer and my skin looks healthy.

For the most part, I use hydrolyzed, grass-fed collagen powder for convenience and if I do reach for gelatin, it’s to make it shine with beautiful, natural color and flavour… no carrots or marshmallows allowed. Collagen and gelatin come from the same source, however, their processing methods make them different in how they react in water. Collagen dissolves in cold water (great for smoothies) while gelatin dissolves in warm water and forms a gel. They share very similar nutritional benefits and exactly the same amino acids. They are an excellent source of ancestral food, delivering nutrients that are missing in our modern diet – ones that heal the gut, lubricate the joints and deliver rosy cheeks.

This recipe combines the botanical goodness and divine colour essence of rhubarb. Here’s a folk medicine record of this plant:

Uses of rhubarb in the 17th century

‘It purges the body of choler and phlegm made into a powder and drunk in a draught of white wine, cleansing the stomach, liver and blood helping those griefs such as jaundice, dropsy, swelling of the spleen, agues, pricking pain in the sides and spitting of blood. It is also given for the pains and swellings of the head, melancholy, gout and cramp. Powdered in red wine it dissolves clotted blood caused by any fall or bruise. Boiled it is used to heal ulcers in the eyes and eyelids.’

Nicholas Culpeper’s Complete Herbal (1653)