Public attitudes towards the food we eat are constantly changing and evolving in unexpected ways. In an era of demanding jobs and 60-hour-a-week workweeks, we can rely more on frozen and canned foods than we want. Canned foods also provide an extraordinary variety of items that might not otherwise be available at all. You’ve probably seen expensive French mass in cans at your local supermarket, but did you know that you can buy canned reindeer pate? Well yes you can! And what about curried crickets? That too! As the Romans wisely put it, “in matters of taste, there is no argument.”

Food packaging preceded freezing. Canning was invented by a Frenchman hired by the Napoleonic army to preserve food for military cooks for long marches and war campaigns, such as Napoleon’s invasion of Russia, which had a mile-long supply train.

The concept was revolutionary at the time, but it’s actually pretty simple – the idea is to seal whatever food product you want to preserve, be it soup, meat, veggies, fruit, anything, actually, in an airtight container made of metal or glass. . and then heating the contents to a temperature high enough to destroy any living organisms, such as bacteria or mold spores, that may be present in the container.

Since the container is hermetically sealed, once the heat treatment is complete, the contents must remain “fresh” or at least edible and free from contamination, for months or years thereafter. These days factory cans are so well made that leaks or cracks almost never happen. In the early days, solder was used to seal cans and leakage problems were more common.

In the eons since Napoleon, we have become more sophisticated in adjusting the canning process. Vegetables, for example, which contain few natural acids, must be sterilized at much higher temperatures, often with high pressure steam, than acidic foods such as fruits, tomatoes, or pickled produce, which can be safely sterilized with just put them in a bath. of ordinary boiling water. That’s because the natural acids present help kill unwanted germs.

Therefore, in today’s modern homes, canned foods provide a convenient and inexpensive way to store food for the longer term without the expense of freezing or refrigeration. And because canning operations are large mass-production companies, pound-for-pound canned goods are often much cheaper than fresh alternatives from the grocery store. And those canned goods have the added benefit that they can stay safely in your closet at room temperature for several years before using.

So far the science of canning. But what about its cultural acceptance, especially by elite chefs and food consumers? Despite scientific progress, it would be very difficult today to find a gourmet chef who believes that all canned goods are superior to fresh. Canned foods are almost always looked down upon, especially by elite cooks and food connoisseurs.

However, this was not always like that. A century ago, Sarah M. Williamson, a San Francisco socialite and writer, highly regarded in California as a food expert in 1916 when she was 38 years old and at the height of influence as a popular newspaper writer, started a little crusade for of using canned goods for gourmet dinners. Canning in those days, of course, was still relatively new, and had taken off commercially in a major way in its home state of California, even then the agricultural garden for the growing United States of America. Canning made it possible to double or triple the amount of products the state could export.

Sarah Williamson wrote that she often heard her friends tell her that “I hate canned goods; I never use them, in fact I fear them.” But Sarah Williamson had a different perspective, and since she was a recognized authority on food, people listened.

“That is why it is very difficult for me to exclaim to many housewives,” he wrote in 1916, referring to the previous quote.

“But why ban canned goods, especially in California, where the most delicious fruits, vegetables, and meats come in cans? Wonderful dishes can be made from cans! Most great foods can be made from cans. Canned peas, beans, and asparagus make a perfect salad, and sliced ​​canned tomatoes are good in salads too.

“A can of oxtail soup,” added Williamson, “used for the gravy broth metamorphoses a second-day cut of meat into a fancy stew or roast that a foodie would enjoy. Tomato soup can also be used. use for the sauce, either on a hamburger steak or hot on the meat. The chili-tomato is rich in spaghetti or rice or ravioli. A Mexican dinner can be prepared in two seconds with canned tamales or enchiladas, the packaged are used as a garnish; canned spaghetti and Chili. Then, with a green bean salad and some fresh lettuce, dinner is a joy every time. Canned hot dogs are always tasty and can be combined with vegetables in many ways. Canned mushrooms may not be as good as fresh, but they are tasty in sauces. A can of boneless chicken with a can of mushrooms can be turned into an extraordinary cake, with creamy sauce and a biscuit base. “

And so the use of canned goods in World War I, which is roughly the time Williamson was writing, enjoyed something of a renaissance in the West Coats as a result of his widely spread writing about them.

In the nearly 100 years since then, the discussion of canned versus fresh has continued unabated, although with the introduction of high-quality specialty food markets, especially in high-income urban areas, fresh food products continued to be appreciated by consumers. America’s elite food lovers. But canned goods are not going away, as a trip to any Krogers, Safeway, or Albertsons will show you, and they continue to serve us well.

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *