History of Food Preservation

! The Philosophy and History of Food Preservation

''What does preserving food represent?''

Preserving is a hedge against hunger,
both a precaution and an optimistic act,
one that has been practised for thousands of years.
The Italian sociologist Girolamo Sineri has noted that
"Preserving is anxiety in its purest form".

''What are some traditional methods of food preservation?''

Among the various ways to preserve food
are salting, pickling, curing, drying,
smoking, sugaring or freezing.

! The Evolutionary Role of Fire vs. Fermentation

''What is the "cooking hypothesis" proposed by Richard Wrangham?''

In Catching Fire: How cooking made us human (2009),
the Harvard primatologist Richard Wrangham argued
that our ability to control fire led to adaptations in our digestive tract
that enabled us to acquire additional energy,
which led in turn to brain development.
The mastery of fire usually gets credit for making us human.

''How do new books challenge the sole focus on fire in human evolution?''

Two new books, Johnny Drain’s Adventures in Fermentation and Tim Spector’s Ferment,
argue that the application of heat is not the only form of cooking.
If cooking is understood as transformation,
then fermentation also played a crucial role in human evolution.

! The Art and Process of Fermentation

''How do humans interact with microbes during fermentation?''

The art of working with microbes relies on guiding their activity.
Drain writes that when we ferment, we serve as caregivers,
extending hospitality to microbes by offering them the nourishment
that enables them to flourish and convert one type of matter into another.
In the process, microbes create new substances that not only preserve the original foodstuff,
but also enhance its flavour.

''What is a simple example of fermentation and its products?''

The simple addition of salt to cabbage, plus time and patience,
yields both traditional lacto-fermented sauerkraut and kimchi.

''What is the Korean concept of "son mat" or "hand taste"?''

Drain discusses the Korean term son mat, or "hand taste",
by which we add some of our own microbiome to the mix.
When we massage raw cabbage with salt to make sauerkraut,
we not only provide microbes with nourishment,
we also add a bit of ourselves, our cells.
As Drain puts it: "Our ferments carry a record of where we’ve been,
who we’ve hugged, what we’ve done. It is the food of myth and memory".

''What is gastrogeography?''

The specific microbes that settle on food are dependent on the immediate environment,
and thus familiar foods prepared by age-old techniques take on new flavours in new places;
the field of gastrogeography explores the relationship between food and place.

! Modern Fermentation and Its Effects

''What is precision fermentation?''

Precision fermentation is a relatively new science
by means of which engineered microbes can produce novel substances
that historically originated from animals,
such as rennet used in cheesemaking.

''Are commercially prepared yoghurts with heat treatment still beneficial?''

Yes, commercially prepared yoghurts and other foods
that have been treated with heat are still good for us,
even though they no longer contain living microbes.