Food and drinks
Since prehistoric times, people have strived to gather food supplies when they are abundant and to preserve them for periods of harsh weather and food shortage. Depending on the geographic position, various ways and recipes for food preservation have been developed. Today, the food industry has almost entirely solved the problem of food availability throughout the year. It has adopted traditional food preserving recipes and initiated mass production that has made food widely available. This is great, because we can easily taste the food from distant parts of the world which would otherwise stay beyond our reach. Unfortunately, adjustment of traditional recipes to the industrial processes and market expectations often results in a rather different taste and appearance compared to the food prepared by original recipe. This is presumably the reason why many people consider homemade preserved food far more superior in taste to industrial food. Besides that, there are many regions in the world where small farming, gardening and homemade food preserving still have a strong tradition. People grow their own food, preserving the extra yield to consume it later in the year.
This category of our website deals with different home-processing methods for food that is to be preserved and stored for further use. Some of the topics are preparation of fruit juices and squashes, flower cordials, liqueurs, condiments, pickles, canned food and fermented foods and drinks.
If you grow fruit, vegetables and herbs in your garden, or if you like foraging, you will probably want to preserve the extra yield for use in the off season. Here you can find some ideas.
Many of these recipes are given in detail and provide accurate instructions how they are commonly prepared. Yet, it does not mean that you cannot change them successfully. Some other recipes are given through reviews of their variations. This is because some recipes have considerable local variations that it is impossible to determine which one of them is authentic. In all cases, our recipes have been proven effective many times. Here you can find many traditional recipes which were prepared by our grandmothers, but which are still widely prepared today. Sometimes you can take advantage of modern kitchen appliances for easier and faster preparation.
People who are experienced in food processing and food preservation know how important it is to follow particular rules. However, if you want to prepare some recipe for the first time, it can be of valuable help to read the details of the preparation procedure so as to avoid any possible mistakes.