Preserves and Pickles

Until a few hundred years ago, people in Britain – and all over the world – relied on preserved food in order to be able to survive the winter months. Perhaps the earliest known form of preservation was chuño, the ‘freeze-drying’ of potatoes by the Incas in Chile, some 1000 years ago. Meat animals in northern Europe would have to be killed in autumn, for there was little fodder on which to feed them over winter. Some of the meat – of cattle, sheep and pigs – would be eaten fresh, but the bulk would be salted, brined and/or smoked to preserve it. Our Great British bacon tradition is a direct result of this form of preservation.