History and the Pickle

Refrigerators are just the tip of the iceberg and not as cool as they think they are.

ba-dum ching!

I can’t stop thinking about food preservation. In fact, take away history all together. This is a study of society. Indeed, even a lesson on food justice. What can we learn about the art of food, culture, preservation, and a more engaged relationship to what we eat by looking at how different cultures have dealt with the ever approaching rot?

Review Bacteria: Bacteria grows on living things, it can become mold, and it can also become very harmful for humans to eat. So how have people kept their food through times of uncertainty, in winters and deserts, climate change, and migration?

What do bacteria live on?: Air, water, warmth (though not much), how do we make it inhospitable to harmful microbes, but still edible?

So how does this play in to culture?

Here is an interesting link, among many, describing how different cultures preserve food.

Many of the techniques are used in various places throughout the world. Many are ancient staples for ritual, culture, and medicine defined by indigenous cultures, and their preservation is important to upholding the customs and beliefs from where they came. People still use alternatives to refrigerators, and, honestly, I prefer a pickle to a chilled cucumber any day – but that’s just me. 

The truth is that it is impossible to say one culture did/does only one of these preservation methods. There is an incredible amount of intersection between techniques.

Dry/Dehydrate: Sub Saharan Africa (sun drying), Mongolia, Turkey (pastrami!)

Smoke: Americas (north, south, and Caribbean), Russia, China

Salt: Scandinavia, Russia, sub Saharan Africa, China

Pickle: oil, vinegar, honey, fat, lemon, lye…: used in Egypt, Greece, Scandinavia, Russia, Korea, India

Freeze: Northern Europe and in the Northern Americas

Bury: Root cellars in Europe, Japan, China, and Korea, Native North America. 

Fermentation: South Africa, Korea, Iran, Philippines

answer the question: how is each resisting the development of bacteria? How did this technique fit with the lifestyle? (nomadic or settling, and related to the climate of the area)

Observe the tools that they use or used to preserve the food. What does it tell you about the culture?

Lesson: Research one type of preservation. Compare and contrast two or more culture’s methods. Or research one culture and how they used different techniques/flavors for different foods. 

Activity: Attempt preservation of some type of food depending on your strengths: pickle, smoke, freeze, dehydrate, or ferment. Try an old recipe, or something of the student’s own design using one of the techniques.