Synopses & Reviews
As fresh foods and farmers' markets gain influence, edging out the overprocessed and supersized from our diets, everything old--and bursting with flavor--is new again, and Americans are turning to time-honored skills like pickling and preserving to wake up their palates. Here, in a current guide that calls upon the newest safety and health information while also updating recipes for modern tastes, Anne V. Nelson walks readers through every step of the process.
Nelson explains why preserving foods at their freshest yields such great-tasting results, and how the salt and vinegar that keep foods fresh also add distinctive flavors. She discusses techniques, equipment--much of which readers will already have in their kitchens--and makes a convincing case for adding these techniques and recipes to a varied, modern diet. Nelson gives hints on choosing produce, recycling jars, making crisper pickles, saving soft jelly, and more.
She starts with preserving-influenced recipes that can be made in an afternoon and eaten that evening--refrigerator pickles, marinated vegetables, homemade horseradish--and works up to blood-orange marmalade, bread-and-butter pickles, and pickled watermelon rind. A global survey, the book includes sweet Cantonese pickles, Moroccan preserved lemons, European sauerkraut, and Central American hot pickled peppers. Nelson also explores herb-infused vinegars, fruit-infused vodka, and jellied wine, plus fruit preserves, jellies, jams, and butters.
Modern cooks don't need to know how to pickle or make jams and jellies. So the recipes here are designed for those who want to learn preserving techniques, those who enjoy the play of bright acids and bold spices in combination with the freshest ingredients. THE NEW PRESERVES is a definitive guide, taking an up-to-date, twenty-first-century approach to an ancient art of the kitchen.
Synopsis
As over-manufactured, over-processed, marketing-saturated foods take hit after hit, everything old is new again, and America is turning to time-honored skills like pickling and preserving. Here, in a current guide addressing all the newest safety, health and, most importantly, taste concerns--lifetime jam and pickle-maker Anne Nelson walks readers through every aspect of this rewarding pastime.
Nelson explains why preserved fresh foods taste so darn good, delving into how the salt and vinegar that keep foods fresh also make them explode in your mouth. Nelson discusses commonly used equipment, much of which readers will already have in their kitchens, and makes a convincing case for picking up a good scale. She gives hints on choosing produce, recycling jars, and quick chutneys and marinades that capture flavors but don't require sterilization.
Nelson also includes valuable advice on: spreads, sauces, marinades, infusions, a pickler's herb garden, using wasabi, Moroccan preserved lemons, giant deli pickles, fruit preserves, marmalades, fruit pastes, and butters. Plus learn how to update Grandmother's recipes to meet moden safety standards.
Spiced throughout with interviews from veteran picklers and preservists, New Preserves is the preservation guide for the new millennium.
Synopsis
A fresh--and delicious--take on pickling and preserving everything from cukes to peaches.
About the Author
Anne V. Nelson has reported on fashion, food, and knitting (of all things) for
The New York Times,
San Francisco magazine, and
Wallpaper. A native Iowan, she currently lives in Boston, Massachusetts and is an editor at the
Boston Globe Magazine.