Canning Gets Hip
Before jumping headlong into the new year, I'm taking one last backward glance at 2009. This was the year that canning became hip.
Everyone this summer, it seemed, was talking about canning. There were those making jam. There were others making pickles. Many were putting up summer's bounty the same way they had for the past several decades, while a whole host of others tried their hand at it for the very first time.
Thanks to the resurgence of pickling, I began to see relish trays on the menus of top-flight restaurants as well as on the tables of vanishing Jewish delis. Instead of your standard potato chips, I saw sandwiches served with tiny bowls of thinly sliced pickled onions and thick chunks of red and yellow beets.
I've come across pickled green beans, pickled red peppers, even my favorite, pickled green tomatoes. And I've watched as Portland's Picklopolis has taken off, selling their fabulous pickled produce at New Seasons Markets and local restaurants as well as from their own booth at the Farmers Market.
What more could I wish for 2010? Bring on the chow-chow!
--Tracy Schneider
Quilly Mammoth on December 30, 2009 at 06:33 AM
I just did a church lunch and put out a large pickle tray. The comments from people about how they hadn't had pickled beets, carrots or green beans in years was amazing. Loaves of no-knead bread and a platter of pickles turns a basic "cowboy beans" lunch into a memorable meal.
I think I mentioned this on another Al Dente post about canning, but a great source for learning how to can is Jackie Clay. We've been canning pickles and jam for years but it was her column that taught us how to can non-acidic products. She's great on repeating safety warnings, which addressed my fears.
BTW: I think no-knead bread is another food item gaining in "hipness".
Here's a link to Jackie:
http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles/clay53.html
Bryan on December 30, 2009 at 12:09 PM
So this means my 70-year-old mom is hip? Wow.
J.R. on December 30, 2009 at 10:09 PM
I think the canning trend is a lot like the gardening trend going on. Those who did not grow up gardening or eating canned goods are enticed by the thought of it, but will abandon it after they realize how much work it is. It takes a lot of work to produce any substantial food stores. Just the other day, my wife - who comes from a family of gardeners and canners - commented, "I look at the rack of canned food and I think, there should be more food for all the work I did."
Like anything that becomes hip or trendy, it will eventually pass. Why spend months cultivating your own garden, or days peeling, slicing, dicing, and canning your own goods when a jar of pickles or pickled beets are only 99 cents at the grocery store all year long? Few people appreciate canned goods enough to undergo the work. Unlike my family, who nearly came to blows (my sister and I) this Christmas fighting over a jar of pickled beets made by my wife using my grandmothers 50+ years old recipe.
bali villa rental on January 01, 2010 at 04:57 AM
Umm. My mouth is full of water and I feel like I just take it out from the screen and start eating it. I hope I could do it. :-)
Guangzhou to Yiwu on September 11, 2010 at 08:34 AM
So this means my 70-year-old mom is hip?