| Author | |
CrunchyMom
Forum Moderator
Joined: Sept 03 2007
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6385
|
| Posted: Jan 24 2012 at 8:06am | IP Logged
|
 |
|
Preserving Food...
Has anyone read this? It looks really nice, but my library doesn't have it, and I'm wondering whether I should order it.
Does anyone have any other favorite books in this genre?
I really like Making Sauerkraut for, obviously, sauerkraut as well as other lacto-fermented pickles.
Lots of people recommend Wild Fermentation, but while the recipes are good and there is lots of variety, I couldn't get past the political and social agenda expressed often by the author I did like his imagery at one point of all the little yeasts and bacteria as organisms that we coexist with in community. It really made me think about lacto-fermentation in a more communal way like the relationship with have with nature we see with our naked eye. But I'm not sure it was worth the read for the few nuggets.
The first book looks interesting with the addition of drying and preserving things in oils. This all appeals to me as something more creative when canning and freezing (though, I do some freezing) is more like WORK  Plus, I burned my 3 year old with water from the teakettle when he wasn't quite 2. It was probably my worst day as a parent in 7.5 years, and I just don't want to go there with little ones underfoot. I'm too much of a flake and a klutz. Less exact sciences appeal more. 
__________________
Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
Rebeccca
Forum Rookie
Joined: Jan 17 2010
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 86
|
| Posted: Jan 28 2012 at 5:52pm | IP Logged
|
|
|
Oh, I actually have this book out from the library!
Some things of note:
There are some excellent recipes/techniques in this book and I plan to purchase the book soon.
It's not really a book of recipes as a regular/modern cookbook. It's really more like that Something and Forget It cookbook. People have written in their techniques and he edited them into book form. They are all French but the measurements, et c have been converted.
Some of the techniques are too vague to be useful for me but you may find them useful. For example, one of the green bean recipes says to cover with water, drain, repeat every 24 hours and then cap and store. That seems to end with drain but surely it's cover with water again. It doesn't say.
Many of the "recipes" seem very old fashioned . . . to paraphrase: gather elderflowers in June, dry, and keep tightly covered that they may remain fragrant. When apples ripen in autumn, layer elderflowers, apples, elderflowers, apples . . . and cover tightly. Apples will taste like pineapples.
I don't have a basement or useable crawl space and have always lamented the lack of year-around cool, dry storage. This book has a several plans for smaller versions of root cellars that actually seem doable.
On some things, I just don't know what they could be thinking! Someone said that zucchini can be kept on the counter at room temp for 3 weeks. This has not been my experience. However, I do believe that there may be some varieties that are storage friendly (at least I think that's true of apples and could see it being true of zucchini).
Overall, I love the book and would like to own it. There are some recipes that I find concerning and would not feed to a young child and, indeed, if I make them would wait 24 hours after eating to serve my family. There are many I can't wait to make! I do recommend the book.
Here is an entry or two to give you an idea of how the recipes are laid out.
figs
fig leaves
thorny branch
To help them dry, dip the figs for three seconds in boiling water to which you've added two fig leaves.
Let the figs dry exposed to the air and in the sun. To do this, take any kind of thorny branches twelve to sixteen inches long, and hang them from a horizontal beam with their thorns pointing up. Pin the figs to the thorns.--- Catherine Taisne, Calcatoggio
------
Green beans
Water
Canning jars
I string the beans, place them uncooked in jars, and cover with cold water. 24 hours later I discard this water and replace it with fresh water. I repeat this three times, every twenty-four hours. I then move the jars to a cool, dark place.
This unusual process is effective. The beans aquire a tangy taste, similar to that of conventionally lacto-fermented beans. --- Roger Hombeline, Souvigny
(this is the one I referred to above)
---
I selected these to to give you an idea of the quaintness of the recipes and to see that some may be vague.
Other recipes are just wonderful and I can't wait to start them!
|
| Back to Top |
|
| |
|
|
Forum Locked) 
4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: Preserving Food W/out Freezing or Canning
