DRYING FOODS TO PRESERVE THEM
Today we understand that moisture allows for the rapid microbiological
growth of bacteria, which is present in all fresh foods and which
causes them to decay.
But it isn't necessary to understand the chemical process involved in
order to observe that food that is wet and left in the open will
quickly start to smell and attract bugs. So it should come as no
surprise that one of the oldest methods of preserving foods known to
man is that of drying it.
Drying was used to preserve all sorts of foods.
Grains like rye and wheat were dried in the sun or air before being
stored in a dry place. Fruits were sun-dried in warmer climes and
oven-dried in cooler regions. In Scandinavia, where temperatures were
known to plunge below freezing in the winter, cod (known as
"stockfish") were left out to dry in the cold air, usually after they
were gutted and their heads were removed.
Meat could also be preserved through drying, usually after cutting it
into thin strips and lightly salting it. In warmer regions, it was a
simple matter to dry meat under the hot summer sun, but in cooler
climates, air drying could be done at most times of the year, either
outdoors or in shelters that kept away the elements and flies.
PRESERVING FOODS WITH SALT
Salting was the most common way to preserve virtually any type of meat
or fish, as it drew out the moisture and killed the bacteria.
Vegetables might be preserved with dry salt, as well, though pickling
was more common. Salt was also used in conjunction with other methods
of preservation, such as drying and smoking.
One method of salting meat involved pressing dry salt into pieces of
meat, then layering the pieces in a container (like a keg) with dry
salt completely surrounding each piece.
If meat was preserved this way in cold weather, which slowed down the
decomposition while the salt had time to take effect, it could last
for years. Vegetables were also preserved by layering them in salt and
placing them in a sealable container such as an earthenware crock.
Another way to preserve food with salt was to soak it in a salt brine.
While not as effective a long-term method of preservation as packing
in dry salt, it served very well to keep food edible through a season
or two. Salt brines were also part of the pickling process (see next
page).
Whatever method of salt preservation was used, the first thing a cook
did when he got ready to prepare the salted food for consumption was
soaking it in fresh water to remove as much of the salt as possible.
Some cooks were more conscientious than others when it came to this
step, which could take several trips to the well for fresh water.
And it was next to impossible to remove all the salt, no matter how
much soaking was done. Many recipes took this saltiness into account,
and some were designed specifically to counteract or complement the
salt flavor. Still, most of us would find preserved medieval food much
saltier than anything we're used to today.
SMOKING MEAT AND FISH
Smoking was another fairly common way to preserve meat, especially
fish and pork. Meat would be cut into relatively thin, lean strips,
immersed briefly in a salt solution and hung over a fire to absorb the
smoke flavoring as it dried -- slowly. Occasionally meat might be
smoked without a salt solution, especially if the type of wood burned
had a distinctive flavoring of its own. However, salt was still very
helpful because it discouraged flies, inhibited the growth of
bacteria, and hastened the removal of moisture.
PICKLING FOODS
Immersing fresh vegetables and other foods in a liquid solution of
salt brine was a fairly common practice in medieval Europe. In fact,
although the term "pickle" didn't come into use in English until the
late Middle Ages, the practice of pickling goes back to ancient times.
Not only would this method preserve fresh food for months so that it
could be eaten out of season, but it could infuse it with strong,
piquant flavors.
The simplest pickling was done with water, salt and an herb or two,
but a variety of spices and herbs as well as the use of vinegar,
verjuice or (after the 12th century) lemon led to a range of pickling
flavors. Pickling might require boiling the foods in the salt mixture,
but it could also be done by simply leaving the food items in an open
pot, tub or vat of salt brine with the desired flavorings for hours
and sometimes days. Once the food had been thoroughly infused by the
pickling solution, it was placed in a jar, crock, or other airtight
container, sometimes with a fresh brine but often in the juice in
which it had marinated.
CONFITS
Although the term confit has come to refer to virtually any food that
has been immersed in a substance for preservation (and, today, can
sometimes refer to a type of fruit preserve), in the Middle Ages
confits were potted meat. Confits were most usually, but not solely,
made from fowl or pork (fatty fowl like goose were particularly
suitable).
To make a confit, the meat was salted and cooked for a very long time
in its own fat, then allowed to cool in its own fat. It was then
sealed up -- in its own fat, of course -- and stored in a cool place,
where it could last for months.
Confits should not be confused with comfits, which were sugar-coated
nuts and seeds eaten at the end of a banquet to freshen the breath and
aid the digestion.
SWEET PRESERVES
Fruits were often dried, but a far more tasty method of preserving
them past their season was to seal them up in honey. Occasionally,
they might be boiled in a sugar mixture, but sugar was an expensive
import, so only the cooks of the wealthiest families were likely to
use it. Honey had been used as a preservative for thousands of years,
and it wasn't limited to preserving fruit; meats were also stored in
honey on occasion.
FERMENTATION
Most methods of preserving food involved stopping or slowing down the
process of decay. Fermentation accelerated it.
The most common product of fermentation was alcohol -- wine was
fermented from grapes, mead from honey, beer from grain. Wine and mead
could keep for months, but beer had to be drunk fairly quickly. Cider
was fermented from apples, and the Anglo-Saxons made a drink called
"perry" from fermented pears.
Cheese is also a product of fermentation. Cow's milk could be used,
but the milk from sheep and goats was a more common source for cheese
in the Middle Ages.
FREEZING AND COOLING
The weather of the greater part of Europe throughout much of the
Middle Ages was rather temperate; in fact, there is often some
discussion of the "medieval warm period" overlapping the end of the
Early Middle Ages and the beginning of High Medieval Europe (the exact
dates depend on who you consult).
So freezing was not an obvious method of preserving foods.
However, most areas of Europe did see snowy winters, and freezing was
at times a viable option, especially in northern regions. In castles
and large homes with cellars, an underground room could be used to
keep foods packed in winter ice through the cooler spring months and
into the summer. In the long, frigid Scandinavian winters, an
underground room wasn't necessary.
Supplying an ice-room with ice was a labor-intensive and sometimes
travel-intensive business, so it was not particularly common; but it
wasn't completely unknown, either. More common was the use of
underground rooms to keep foods cool, the all-important last step of
most of the above preservation methods.
