Creating the Red Sea in Jello

It came to me in a flash.  We were hosting a second-night Seder and planning on doling out different parts to different people.  What would I do?  Hmmm.  Aha!  That's it.  Eureka!

I will do the parting of the Red Sea.  And I will demonstrate in about the most American way possible.  I will demonstrate the parting of the Red Sea in Jello. 

Sondra smirked, but I set to it with enthusiasm. 

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A bit of history may be in order.  Each year at Passover, Jews and often people of other faiths gather together in homes two nights running and have a festive meal called a Seder.  This tradition has been going on for the past -- oh 3,000 years or so.  The Last Supper was a Seder. 

The purpose of the meal is to commemorate the time when Jews were slaves in Egypt.  In it we learn the story of Moses and how a bit of burning shubbery (aka God) commanded him to tell the pharaoh to "Let my people go."  Moses wanted no part of this, but God wouldn't let him say no. 

In the process of liberation, God visits a total of ten plagues upon the Egyptians: darkness, cattle disease, locusts, etc.  Eventually God "goes nuclear" and kills the firstborn children of all the Egyptians.  This is a family event, so we tend to downplay the whole killing thing, though it is the source of the name "Passover".  The Jews marked their houses so the angel of death passed them over. 

So what does this have to do with Jello?  Don't worry, I'm getting there. 

When the pharaoh eventually capitulated and let the Jews go, they hightailed it out of Egypt quick as ever they could.  They didn't even have enough time to let their bread rise.  Hence the whole matzoh thing. 

Moses hustled his band of followers east and they ran smack-dab into the Red Sea:

This was disheartening to the Jews.  After letting the Jews go the pharaoh had changed his mind.  (He probably realized that he'd have to go without bagels and lox.)  The Egyptian army was marching double-time after them to turn them back. 

This wouldn't do, so God performed yet another miracle.  This had nothing to do with Jello, but the Red Sea parted for the Jews, allowing them to do their own double-time march through the waters.  The soldiers hesitated for a bit and pressed on.  Unfortunately for them (the story goes), once the Jews made it through, God allowed the Red Sea to un-part and the soldiers -- standing at the bottom -- were all drowned. 

All-in-all, the pharaoh doesn't come out well in this transaction: frogs lice, boils, dead babies, lost soldiers, and he lost his best slaves.  Plus, the whole bagel thing.  Not a good situation.

Back to the Jews: From my map, they end up somewhere in the Saudi Arabian wander around for 40 years before settling down in Israel and thus setting themselves squarely a conflict that has raged ever since.

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Back to the present.  Jello.  Red Sea.  Parting.

A couple of weeks ago, I did a test run.  I took a big pan, put a smaller pan inside it, and poured lime jello into the outside.  After that set, I pulled out the inner pan and poured red jello inside.  It worked pretty well, but it lacked a naturalistic feel.  Also, I hate lime jello.  Time to put my thinking cap back on....

First change: I remember we're talking about Egypt and Saudi Arabia.  These are deserts.  Deserts are yellow.  Lemon jello on the outside.  Big improvement.

Second change:  I need to use a less-regular shape.  I don't want it to look like a swimming pool, I want it to look like the Red Sea.  I replaced the rectangular pan with a round pot and two coffee mugs.  That is less pool-like, but it would have given me three circles, not a fractal-edged seashore.  I then grabbed some aluminum foil to act as a dam.  Here's the initial "mold":

Fearing floating, I filled the cups, pot, and even the foil with a little water:

The pan would have made a tight fit in our refrigerator, but the weather was with me.  It was cold enough to set outside, so I made for the back deck with pan and now-mixed Jello.

I set the pan on a cooling rack so I would get some airflow underneath and wouldn't cook the deck.

And I poured around the edge:

I covered the concoction with a towel and went to sleep.

Bright and early the next morning, I retrieved my creation, removed the mugs and pot, and gingerly began pulling out the aluminum foil. 

The jello sticks to the foil.  You could put hot water in the foil to make it unmold gracefully, but I was going for a nice smooth shoreline effect and you'll get that in spades with a gentle tug. 

You're going to have extra jello shards when you do this.  The stuff stuck to the foil, there will be some on the bottom of the pan that crept under the foil.  Use this to your advantage.  Think terrain.  I dumped those pieces I chose not to snack on on top of he existing desert.

I consulted the map some more and decided to make a few sculptural modifications as well. 

Once that was completed, and the red jello mixed up, it was time to go back outside and make the second pour.  I let the red liquid cool down almost to room temp before pouring, but it may make no difference.

And that's just what it looked like when I brought it out for the kids.  You might want to scrape off the foam while it's still liquid.  If (like me) you don't, you can use the edge of a spoon to pop the bubbles, though you still have a mottled surface.  Just call it wind.

I don't have pics of the demonstration, but I got a bunch of spatulas, cut the red part, and had the kids help pull it back.  Someone's fingers walked across unscathed.  Then another set of fingers made their way across and at a word, we all flopped the jello back into place, sending them to their demise.

And speaking of demises, here's the inevitable result of putting jello, bowls, and serving utensils in front of children:

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It's silly, I know, but I had fun doing it!  Questions and comments are always appreciated.

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Tips:

• For precision pouring, use a pitcher, not a measuring cup.  The measuring cup will spill. 
• Use a lot of Jello.  For a big pan, you'll need more than you might think to get any depth.  You want the Red Sea, not the red skin. 
• Think ahead.  Each Jello "pour" takes 3-4 hours to set.  This can't be done at the last minute.
• Use heavy things to block out your inside space.  On my test run, I forgot that a light metal baking pan has a strong tendency to float in liquid Jello.  I filled the pan with water so it would sink, but that made for a heavy, sloshy mess.
• Plan your setting strategy. Do you have refrigerator space?  Clear it out first and test to make sure that the pan will fit.  I was blessed with chilly weather and a convenient back deck, so it set outside.
• Pour in place if you can possibly manage it.  Especially for the red part, you don't want to have to move the sloshing mass anywhere.  Remember also that Jello will start to firm up at room temp.  If you have to use the fridge, you might let it sit on the counter for a few hours before moving it.
• Make the pan level.  If you set your sea on an angle, on an angle it will stay.