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Introduction

On Keeping Fresh Food

Some things keep better than others, but there is no escaping the fact that it is a losing battle. You can only retard the process.
Some foods hold their flavour, texture and nutrition better than others. Carrots, onions, parsnips, cabbages, and the like have had their characteristics bred into them by many generations of cultivators, and one of the qualities most important to those early geneticists was the storage quotient.

Refrigeration is the single most effective weapon in the pantry-person's arsenal. Some things need moisture at their cut ends, like collard greens, some things must be kept relatively dry, such as soft fruits, lest they molder. Both states can be approximated in the refrigerator; the general atmosphere within is dry, but if you disallow circulation of air, as in the 'crisper,' condensation provides some humidity.

Certain items need to be stored at room temperature, notably garlic, the so-called 'winter' squashes, and sweet potatoes. These last, with botanical classifications that place them with the morning glories, are very nutritious items, besides being so delicious, adaptable, and colourful.

Remember, even if you are purchasing from a roadside stand, the produce may have been picked a thousand kilometers away. Unless you can see the field or orchard with your own eyes, take naught for granted.

As found in the (post-shipment) supermarket environment, assume that all citrus fruits, most apples, pears, avocados, melons, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes, yams, sweet potatoes, squash, and rutabaga are either sprayed with or dipped in petroleum based 'wax' compounds. This practice deters shrinkage and extends the shipping and storage lives of these products, and many more besides. And it is better not to assume that just because something has been 'organically' grown, it hasn't been subjected to a similar treatment. Knowledge of this may cause you to pare and peel more of what you eat...

Interestingly enough, sweet potatoes, which are in season fresh through the late summer and early autumn, are preserved through to the other parts of the year by being partially kiln-dried. So don't refrigerate these, cool and dry is fine.

Bean sprouts need to be either kept covered with cold water which is changed daily or rinsed and drained twice a day.
Cakes of tofu must have similar treatment; cover them with cold water and change it daily. The tofu will become somewhat firmer as it ages, and will last four days.

Table of Contents

More Intro:

On Frugality | On Cookery | On the Board | Batterie de Cuisine | Keeping it Dried | On Nightshades | On Water | On Sourdough | On Pizza | Arthritis in the Kitchen |