The Controversial Southern Staple Alton Brown Loves

TV personality, food scientist, and author Alton Brown comes from Georgia, and part of his heritage includes one iconic but controversial Southern staple: Jell-O salad.

Jell-O salad is a mixture of Jell-O and a myriad of other ingredients, such as nuts, fruit, juice, whipped cream, vegetables, cottage cheese, mayonnaise, and/or evaporated milk.

Many families have their own recipes that have been passed down through generations, and this type of generational connectivity has a special place within the Southern sensibility.

"Jell-O-based salads are a big thing in the South," Brown said. "I love them and always have, and I always will." His favorite Jell-O salad is from his grandmother, Ma Mae.

Brown said, "It's lemon and orange Jell-O with pecans and chunks of pineapple and whole cranberry sauce. There is something texturally very satisfying to me about that."