Can It! : The Perils and Pleasures of Preserving Foods

What do beer, cheese, yogurt, sauerkraut, miso, jam, even chocolate—I’ll bet you didn’t know—have in common? They are all preserved foods. Artisanal canned tomatoes and homemade kimchee might be trendy items now, but they come from a culinary need as old as human civilization itself. Can It! celebrates those transformed and transforming foods that have done so much to create the diversity of cuisines found around the world, bringing readers on a tangy adventure of all the ways necessity has bred deliciousness. Food preservation rests in a simple problem: food tends to come in concentrated periods of abundance and then quickly spoil. Today we might pump it full of preservatives or throw it in the freezer, but for most of our time eating the things that the earth provides, we haven’t had these luxuries. As Allen shows, that’s been a wonderful limitation: our ancestors, knowing next to nothing about organic chemistry, found consistent techniques not only to preserve the foods they grew but to alter them—to delicious effects. Wine is more than old grape juice, cheese more than spoiled milk. Allen details how these transformations resulted in new flavors, textures, and, ultimately, new ways of defining the tastes and culture of a community, which passed down its knowledge from generation to generation. Exploring the history and science of preservation, he examines all the major techniques—from drying to smoking to salting to canning to fermentation—reveling in the cornucopia of different foods they have produced. Allaying the fears of the squeamish, he serves up easy-to-do historic and modern recipes that will help any home cook participate in one of culinary history’s most hallowed traditions. What do beer, cheese, yogurt, bacon, sauerkraut, miso and jam have in common? They are all preserved foods, and come from a culinary need as old as human civilization itself: the problem of alternating food scarcity and seasonal overabundance. Can It! celebrates the miracle of preservation, which has done so much to create the diversity of cuisines found around the world. Today our preserved foods are often frozen, refrigerated, pasteurized, irradiated, vacuum-packed or pumped full of preservatives, but even before these methods were invented, our ancestors, knowing next to nothing about organic chemistry, found ingenious techniques not only to preserve the foods they grew but to alter them - to delicious effect. Wine is more than old grape juice, just as cheese is more than spoiled milk. These transformations resulted in new flavours, textures and, ultimately, new ways of defining the tastes and cultures of communities, who passed down their knowledge from generation to generation. Exploring the history and science of preservation, Gary Allen examines all the major methods, from drying to smoking, salting, canning and fermentation. Allaying the fears of the squeamish, Can It! serves up historic and modern recipes that will help any home cook participate in one of culinary history's most hallowed traditions This Book Explores The History And Science Of Preservation And Examines The Major Preservation Techniques Of Drying, Smoking, Salting, Canning, Fermentation And Others. Introduction -- 1.perils -- 2.ancient Preserving Methods -- 3.modern Preserving Methods -- 4.major Ingredients -- 5.geography -- 6.beyond The Main Course -- Afterword. Gary Allen. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 243-248) And Index. Perils -- Ancient preserving methods -- Modern preserving methods -- Major ingredients -- Geography -- Beyond the main course.;This book explores the history and science of preservation and examines the major preservation techniques of drying, smoking, salting, canning, fermentation and others. A history of how preserving food - drying, smoking, salting, and fermenting - developed to solve the problems of seasonal over-abundance and subsequent food scarcity.