Years ago, many individuals and families canned and preserved the fruits, vegetables and herbs they grew as an economic necessity to sustain themselves through long winters.
Today, some still view canning and preserving as more affordable alternatives to buying such edibles ready-made.
But for others, the proliferation in gourmet food shops, giant supermarkets and mail-order food catalogs selling big beautiful jars and bottles of deep dark jams, sun-kissed chutneys, spiced fruits, relishes, pickles and flavored oils and vinegars has eliminated the need to master the laborious and time-consuming steps to can and preserve. (The terms can be used interchangeably to describe foods that are heat processed, despite the misconception that preserving refers only to making jams and jellies, says Judy Harrold, manager, consumer affairs at Alltrista Consumer Products Co., which markets the famous Ball and Kerr Mason jars.)
Yet, like many other traditions that technology has pushed aside but creativity has revived, preserving was never done solely to save money. An important byproduct, as with quiltmaking, was the camraderie of working with like-minded family and friends to fashion something unique.
The recent surge in home gardening, the increased amount of fresh produce at supermarkets, the growing number of farmers markets and concern about chemical additives have encouraged many to try their hand. And, like alchemists, people find passion in transforming their bounty into something more wonderful, whether they use it at their own tables or as gifts.
Rand E. Arons, a small-business consultant in Evanston, says preserving is one of his greatest passions, ranking up there with his family and his antique cane collection. He makes a minimum of 50 jars of 10 different items yearly, most of which he gives as gifts.
Last year, his repertoire starred lemon artichokes in olive oil, pears in Merlot and strawberry-mint vinegar. This year he has finished a peach chutney, whole apricots in Marsala and grilled eggplant and mixed peppers. He dreams of concocting an artichoke relish, eggplant and garlic chutney, and pickled celeriac and carrots next season.
Mary Morgan, who sells topiaries from herbs she lovingly grows along with arugula, baby lettuces, ornamental kale, tomatoes, gooseberries and currants in her small St. Louis potager, cans and preserves for the pleasure of “taking something at its ripest moment, cooking it down to its essence and having it year-round for my family and as holiday gifts.” Morgan longed for her garden and preserving when her family moved to an apartment in Hong Kong for three years. “I felt lost. I was literally uprooted from my sense of place.”
Nancy Greenberg finds time in her busy schedule of running the Admiral Peary House Inn with her husband, Ed, in Fryeburg, Maine, to preserve strawberries, raspberries and peaches from fruits she picks. She serves them atop homemade waffles, pancakes and French toast to her guests.
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Both Morgan and Greenberg started out quite innocently.
Morgan’s interest in preserving came from living in London and being surrounded by interesting jams, jellies, vinegars and chutneys.
Greenberg learned how to preserve “every kind of berry, plus apples, stewed tomatoes, green beans, asparagus and peas” from her maternal grandmother when the family spent summers in Michigan. “I remember my grandmother saying, `Today is canning day,’ and my sisters and mother and I would all get busy.”
Visiting a cousin in Cleveland a dozen years ago, Arons says they reminisced about the cousin’s parents’ homemade pickles, preserves and lasagna. “I had grown up in the Chicago suburbs. My parents were successful and believed that meant you didn’t have to eat pasta and pot roast, which they associated with being poor,” says Arons, 43.
He and his cousin tried their collective hand at pickles, one of the easiest items to start with because of little prep work and because the method consists primarily of pouring brine over cucumbers. “The results were encouraging,” he says. More important, they had a wonderful time.
When he and his wife, Jennifer, moved to Taylor Street, they met other couples who had grown up in families who cooked minimally, yet had become passionate about food. Together, they made wine, Italian sausages, pizza and tomato sauce, all in huge quantities. “We stayed up late, making gallons of Cabernet and Zinfandel, hundreds of pounds of sausage, dozens of jars of tomato sauce. We laughed ourselves silly and ate like crazy.”
Another move to a house in Highland Park with two acres allowed the couple to garden seriously, growing beans, peapods, tomatoes, zucchini, raspberries, strawberries and watermelons. They learned preserving through trial and error and by buying books on the science and art.
“You need to be exact so you don’t get sick. We learned to preserve meat with enough salt and by drying, to can tomatoes by heating them to a high enough temperature to avoid botulism and to make jellies by adding enough sugar, pectin or fruit juices,” he says. “The first few attempts took three times as long as it does now, and our home looked like a bomb had hit. Since then it’s become second nature, and we space work out so we no longer do everything in summer.”
As Arons increased his output, he began to give away small quantities and found the response endearing. “Friends had never tried their hands at canning and preserving, and loved the results. So, it became something that was expected and wonderful to share.”
Through the years, he has also expanded his offerings, trying to be more exotic and use finer ingredients such as the best champagne, best virgin olive oils, best fruits and vegetables. He has found it necessary to buy at a farmers market in Evanston and through the produce manager at his local supermarket, to have sufficient quantity. He decorates his Mason jars with his homemade labels made from handmade paper and ties them with raffia. His only regret is that some recipients view his jars as too beautiful to use and set them aside.
But he knows his new-found tradition is secure for another generation in his 8-year-old daughter Alexis’ experienced hands. “She has learned to make pizza from scratch, sausages, and preserve fruits and tomatoes. The activity has helped preserve our family and friends’ most wholesome family values.”
Note: Do not attempt the following recipes until you have familiarized yourself with methods of canning and preserving in one or more of the books listed on this page.
PEARS PICKLED IN MERLOT
3 quart jars
15 to 20 small, underripe firm pears
1 bottle (750 milliliters) Merlot
6 cups red wine vinegar
12 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
6 small cinnamon sticks
9 whole cloves
Peel the pears but leave stems intact. Set aside. Combine all other ingredients in a stainless steel or other nonreactive large pot and bring to a boil. Boil 7 or 8 minutes until a thin syrup forms. Place pears in boiling syrup, reduce heat to medium and gently boil pears until barely cooked, about 10 minutes. Pack jars with pears. Be gentle so you don’t damage the pears but squeeze in as many pears as possible. Ladle in the hot syrup and divide the cinnamon sticks and cloves between the jars. Leave one-half inch of headspace. Clean the jar rims, seal the jars and process in a boiling water bath for one hour. Let stand overnight to cool. Check for a proper seal and wash jars.
CRANBERRY-LEMON RELISH
4 half-pint jars
1 pound fresh cranberries
2 to 3 lemons for zest and juice
3/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts
1 1/2 tablespoons Grand Marnier
Coarsely chop the cranberries in a food processor and transfer to a stainless steel or other nonreactive saucepan. Remove the zest from the lemons and add it, the lemon juice, water and sugar to the cranberries. Stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Cook about 5 minutes. Add the chopped walnuts and Grand Marnier and cook another 2 or 3 minutes more. Ladle into hot jars, clean the rims and seal. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
GETTING STARTED
For those interested in canning and preserving, there are many caveats to remember regarding price, taste and safety. First, products will be least expensive and taste best if you use fresh local goods picked or bought during their growing seasonapples in fall and strawberries in summer.
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Second, it’s more fun to be adventuresome in what you make, since part of the joy is to develop combinations that you’re less likely to buy. Rand Arons’ pears in Merlot and artichokes in lemon and olive oil were pure experiments–after he understood the necessary steps.
It’s critical to be organized, and take time to follow recipes so you don’t get sick. Canning must be done at high enough temperatures to destroy organisms such as molds, yeasts and bacteria and keep them from forming and producing certain enzymes. Different foods have different acidity levels, so you need to be exact about required temperatures.
You must also have the right equipment: the right pressure canner (for low-acid foods such as meat, soups, vegetables, fish and beans) or water bath canners (for high-acid foods like fruits, jams, jellies, pickles and tomato products). Standard canning jars in tip-top shape should be sterilized and have clean screw bands and new lids. The jars should be tempered to withstand high temperatures.
Drusilla Banks, extension educator for nutrition and wellness at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, says her group recommends half-pint, pint or quart-size jars rather than half-gallon jars, since the large amount of food the half-gallons hold delays heat penetration, with spoilage more likely to occur. You’ll also want to have a cooling rack, jar lifter, tongs and ladle, she says.
Very critical is that any food you preserve in a jar has to be heat sterilized; the old method of putting it in a jar and turning it upside down is deadly, Banks says.
You can find equipment at a variety of places–hardware stores with cooking utensil aisles, large supermarkets that stock kitchen gear, gourmet cooking stores and food catalogs. A recent Williams-Sonoma catalog offered a canning kit.
You also need a cool, dry storage place away from hot pipes, your furnace or direct sun to avoid spoilage. How do you know if something’s turned bad? Signs include a lid popping off, liquid spewing or foaming when the lid is removed, off color, change in odor or texture, Banks says. Finally, you need to know each recipe’s shelf life, which is usually a year or less. Nancy Greenberg freezes many preserves as an extra precaution.
–B.B.B.
READING UP
There are numerous books on the subject of preserving. Following is an armful of them, in alphabetical order:
“The Art of Preserving,” by Rodney Weidland (Ten Speed Press, $17.95).
“The Big Book of Preserving the Harvest,” by Carol W. Costenbader (Storey Publishing, $18.95).
“Canning & Preserving,” by Linda Ferrari (Michael Friedman Publishers, $8.95).
“The Glass Pantry,” by Georgeanne Brennan (Chronicle Books, $18.95).
“Perfect Preserves,” by Nora Carey (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, $24.95).
“Preserving,” by Oded Schwartz (DK Publishing, $26.95).
“Preserving in Today’s Kitchens,” by Jeanne Lesem (Henry Holt & Co., $14.95).
“Putting Food By,” by Janet Greene, Ruth Hertzberg, Beatrice Vaughan (Plume Books, $13.95).
Alltrista Corp., which markets the Ball Mason jars, publishes a canning guide called “The Ball Blue Book,” which can be ordered by sending $4.95, plus $1 for shipping and handling, to Alltrista Corp., P.O. Box 2005, Muncie, Ind. 47305. Its jars are sold through such area stores as Dominick’s Finer Foods and Ace Hardware.