The Very First Pickle
Want to freak out the Master Canners of America? All you have to do is whisper in their ears:
"Ingredient Substitution"
and they will flutter around in paroxysms and will require smelling salts to revive them at which point all you have to do is say:
"Botulism"
to send them into a catatonic state. You must not cross the line though and suggest you're thinking of selling your home made jam to the neighbors because it's entirely possible they will send your entire state on a man-hunt for your wicked ass.
There is an oppressive attitude persisting out there that home canning is a dangerous activity that only USDA officials should attempt. The first time I wanted to make some jam I consulted the book "Putting Food By" which almost put the fear of God in me it was so filled with warnings and precautions and the assumption that the average person is incapable of preserving food safely or paying attention to such details as WASHING YOUR HANDS. I almost didn't try canning after that.
Which would have been a shame because it is one of the most soul satisfying things I do in my life. Canning was "discovered" and developed by non-USDA officials; by people trying to figure out how to eat things once they'd begun to rot; by people who needed to save the food they had in abundant times against those lean months when their babies were hungry. Ordinary men and women experimented over centuries to learn how to dry tomatoes in the sun, how to bury disgusting fish in the ground to dig up later and eat like wild dogs*, and how to ferment cabbage to make the world's most repulsive condiment**.
Preserving food revolutionized human existence. It enabled people to be able to stay in one place during the winter and survive. Although scientists have made quite a lot of advances in home preserving and it's overall safety, they are hardly responsible for the very developed knowledge humans have of what kind of mold is safe to eat and what is not. Scientists have unlocked a lot of answers as to WHY certain methods of preserving aren't as healthy as others, but it was people like you and me who have been developing this craft for thousands of years now.
So when I hear people get all twittery about messing with the USDA's safe recipes I get a little itchy for a fight. I practice safe canning methods. I am clean. My utensils are clean. My kitchen is clean. I follow the recipes, I understand what elements of recipes can be altered and which should not be messed with. However, I refuse to believe that my food will not be safe unless I bleach every jar and pot and counter. I refuse to bow down to the deep fear that has taken hold of many modern people concerning home canned goods. You are NOT safer eating foods from commercial canning facilities. You can get botulism in all kinds of interesting ways and home canned goods are merely one small way. And all you need to do is be reasonably careful and understand the importance of acidity in foods to make safe food.
You have a way better chance of dying in a car crash than you do of dying of botulism from some one's home canned goods. The odds are staggering. Yet almost everyone is perfectly willing to look in the maw of death every day to get somewhere else.
But here's the deal: there aren't very many recipe books for canning. Not really. There are hundreds of minute variations of the same old piccalilli that your grandma used to make. There are a million reprints of the exact same recipes that are approved by the USDA. I think it's time that we all invested some money and expertise into coming up with new safe recipes that better reflect our modern tastes and needs in the kitchen. What about more pickles that aren't sweet? Or how about salsas without any green bell peppers and sugar? How about an apricot glaze for meat? Or what about a mustard that we can safely process and keep in the pantry for a year? How about a ratatouille for pressure canning?
I mentioned this need for new recipes to the master canner from the OSU I spoke with this morning and I'm pretty sure I sent her into an instant panic attack:
"New recipes? New recipes are UNSAFE! You must NEVER EVER change anything. There are PLENTY of recipes already. Why can't you just be satisfied with bread and butter pickles like everyone else? Who are you anyway- AN ANARCHIST?!!!"
*Burying food really connects us to our wild animal roots. My dog has refined the art of fermenting rawhide. I'm actually quite impressed with her ability to get it just black and stinky enough to please her very singular palate. She also manages to leave these tasty flaccid moist morsels on the carpet by my chair when I'm least expecting to step on them.
**I'm not a fan of sauerkraut or kim chi.
"Ingredient Substitution"
and they will flutter around in paroxysms and will require smelling salts to revive them at which point all you have to do is say:
"Botulism"
to send them into a catatonic state. You must not cross the line though and suggest you're thinking of selling your home made jam to the neighbors because it's entirely possible they will send your entire state on a man-hunt for your wicked ass.
There is an oppressive attitude persisting out there that home canning is a dangerous activity that only USDA officials should attempt. The first time I wanted to make some jam I consulted the book "Putting Food By" which almost put the fear of God in me it was so filled with warnings and precautions and the assumption that the average person is incapable of preserving food safely or paying attention to such details as WASHING YOUR HANDS. I almost didn't try canning after that.
Which would have been a shame because it is one of the most soul satisfying things I do in my life. Canning was "discovered" and developed by non-USDA officials; by people trying to figure out how to eat things once they'd begun to rot; by people who needed to save the food they had in abundant times against those lean months when their babies were hungry. Ordinary men and women experimented over centuries to learn how to dry tomatoes in the sun, how to bury disgusting fish in the ground to dig up later and eat like wild dogs*, and how to ferment cabbage to make the world's most repulsive condiment**.
Preserving food revolutionized human existence. It enabled people to be able to stay in one place during the winter and survive. Although scientists have made quite a lot of advances in home preserving and it's overall safety, they are hardly responsible for the very developed knowledge humans have of what kind of mold is safe to eat and what is not. Scientists have unlocked a lot of answers as to WHY certain methods of preserving aren't as healthy as others, but it was people like you and me who have been developing this craft for thousands of years now.
So when I hear people get all twittery about messing with the USDA's safe recipes I get a little itchy for a fight. I practice safe canning methods. I am clean. My utensils are clean. My kitchen is clean. I follow the recipes, I understand what elements of recipes can be altered and which should not be messed with. However, I refuse to believe that my food will not be safe unless I bleach every jar and pot and counter. I refuse to bow down to the deep fear that has taken hold of many modern people concerning home canned goods. You are NOT safer eating foods from commercial canning facilities. You can get botulism in all kinds of interesting ways and home canned goods are merely one small way. And all you need to do is be reasonably careful and understand the importance of acidity in foods to make safe food.
You have a way better chance of dying in a car crash than you do of dying of botulism from some one's home canned goods. The odds are staggering. Yet almost everyone is perfectly willing to look in the maw of death every day to get somewhere else.
But here's the deal: there aren't very many recipe books for canning. Not really. There are hundreds of minute variations of the same old piccalilli that your grandma used to make. There are a million reprints of the exact same recipes that are approved by the USDA. I think it's time that we all invested some money and expertise into coming up with new safe recipes that better reflect our modern tastes and needs in the kitchen. What about more pickles that aren't sweet? Or how about salsas without any green bell peppers and sugar? How about an apricot glaze for meat? Or what about a mustard that we can safely process and keep in the pantry for a year? How about a ratatouille for pressure canning?
I mentioned this need for new recipes to the master canner from the OSU I spoke with this morning and I'm pretty sure I sent her into an instant panic attack:
"New recipes? New recipes are UNSAFE! You must NEVER EVER change anything. There are PLENTY of recipes already. Why can't you just be satisfied with bread and butter pickles like everyone else? Who are you anyway- AN ANARCHIST?!!!"
*Burying food really connects us to our wild animal roots. My dog has refined the art of fermenting rawhide. I'm actually quite impressed with her ability to get it just black and stinky enough to please her very singular palate. She also manages to leave these tasty flaccid moist morsels on the carpet by my chair when I'm least expecting to step on them.
**I'm not a fan of sauerkraut or kim chi.
Labels: canning, harvest, preserving history, USDA