The oldest surviving recipe for jelly in England dates back to the late thirteenth century.

Long before instant packets, making jelly was a massive chore. The earliest recorded recipe in England was written in Anglo-Norman French between 1275 and 1300. Chefs had to boil animal parts, like calves' feet or deer antlers, for hours to extract the natural gelatin. Because it took so much time, energy, and money, only the richest people and royalty could afford to serve it at their banquets.