Pickling is the process of preserving or extending the shelf life of food by either anaerobicfermentation in brine or immersion in vinegar. The pickling procedure typically affects the food's texture and flavor. The resulting food is called a pickle, or, to prevent ambiguity, prefaced with pickled. Foods that are pickled include vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, meats, fish, dairy and eggs.
Yes, it's almost that time of year when the bounty of the garden has hit it's explosive stage. Far to many herbs, vegetables and fruits...what to do? Well of course you can share them with friends and family, but often we are still left with more than we can consume in a reasonable time. This is where "Putting things Up", comes in handy. Such an easy, effective way to deal with the problem, to be enjoyed at a later date. Myself, I like to do this throughout the season, as many items are earlier, such as asparagus, strawberries, etc. However in the Fall, there is so much more to deal with.
First off lets discuss the different techniques and the products that are best fitted for each of the different methods.
A relish is a cooked and pickled product made of chopped vegetables, fruits or herbs and is a food item typically used as a condiment to enhance a staple.[1] Examples are chutneys and the North American relish, a pickled cucumber jam eaten with hot dogs.[2][3] In North America, the word "relish" is frequently used to describe a single variety of finely chopped pickled cucumber relish, such as pickle, dill and sweet relishes.
A chutney (Bengali: চাটনি romanised: chatni Hindi: चटनी romanised: chatnee Urdu: چٹنی romanised: chatnee Bhojpuri: चटनी) is a spread typically associated with cuisines of the Indian subcontinent. Chutneys are made in a wide variety of forms, such as a tomato relish, a ground peanut garnish, yogurt or curd, cucumber, spicy coconut, spicy onion or mint dipping sauce.
A common variant in Anglo-Indian cuisine uses a tart fruit such as sharp apples, rhubarb or damson pickle made milder by an equal weight of sugar (usually demerara, turbinado or brown sugar to replace jaggery in some Indian sweet chutneys). Vinegar was added to the recipe for English-style chutney that traditionally aims to give a long shelf life so that autumn fruit can be preserved for use throughout the year (as are jams, jellies and pickles) or to be sold as a commercial product. Indian pickles use mustard oil as a pickling agent, but Anglo-Indian style chutney uses malt or cider vinegar which produces a milder product. In western cuisine, chutney is often eaten with hard cheese or with cold meats and fowl, typically in cold pub lunches.
Compote or compôte[1] (French for stewed fruit[2]) is a dessert originating from medieval Europe,[citation needed] made of whole or pieces of fruit in sugar syrup. Whole fruits are cooked in water with sugar and spices. The syrup may be seasoned with vanilla, lemon or orange peel, cinnamon sticks or powder, cloves, other spices, ground almonds, grated coconut, candied fruit or raisins. The compote is served either warm or cold.
Fruit preserves are preparations of fruits whose main preserving agent is sugar and sometimes acid, often stored in glass jars and used as a condiment or spread.
There are many varieties of fruit preserves globally, distinguished by the method of preparation, type of fruit used, and place in a meal. Sweet fruit preserves such as jams, jellies, and marmalades are often eaten at breakfast with bread or as an ingredient of a pastry or dessert, whereas more savory and acidic preserves made from "vegetable fruits" such as tomato, squash or zucchini, are eaten alongside savory foods such as cheese, cold meats, and curries.
Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container (jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although under specific circumstances, it can be much longer.[1] A freeze-dried canned product, such as canned dried lentils, could last as long as 30 years in an edible state.
This could be a very extensive list if we were speaking about simple preservation, and could also include; freezing, dehydration, salting, brining, smoking, etc...
Anyway, you get the idea. Time for a few recipes, in fact I will include a set of somewhat more sophisticated techniques coupled with recipes.
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Cheers, and have a great weekend!
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