Food preservation has been used since ancient times to give abundant produce increased shelf life.

With the arrival of Covid-19, food preservation techniques have come to the forefront once again, seeing as purchasing behaviors, especially in Malaysia, have altered to frequent bulk-buying.

Like farmers and fishermen who have long mastered the art of preserving food for extended periods, most people can benefit from knowing how to make their food last longer.

This is where the tried-and-tested food storage methods of yesteryear come into practice.

Freeze it or waste it

In the 1800s, American inventor and entrepreneur Clarence Birdseye observed how the Arctic Inuits instantly froze their catch-of-the-day, allowing the fishes to still retain its freshness, even when thawed months later.

Birdseye’s observation prompted him to develop the food freezing process, which inevitably led to the birth of frozen foods as we know it. Of course, mankind has come a long way from freezing fishes in wooden barrels but it’s good to note that this age-old method is still relevant.

While most Malaysians have mastered the art of freezing meat, it’s time to consider freezing fruits and vegetables too. To store vegetables for months, simply chop them up into smaller portions and blanch them before freezing.

Blanching is essential because the process inactivates enzyme action, which then prevents loss of flavour, colour and texture in vegetables. Fruits meanwhile, can be frozen without blanching, although some preparation is needed beforehand.

For apples, pears and tropical fruits, dice before freezing; citrus fruits should be juiced and frozen; stone fruits like peaches and apricots are best covered in syrup (by boiling sugar and water) and frozen; berries can be frozen straight away in its original state.

Can you can?

Frenchman Nicolas Appert, widely regarded as the father of airtight food preservation, invented food canning when the government engaged him to preserve food for France’s military in 1809.

He achieved this by first filling mason jars with processed food, sealing the lid tight, then submerging the jars into a large pot of water. He then covered the pot and proceeded to boil the jars. This process would kill off most bacteria, allowing the food in the sealed mason jars to keep well and long. Again, this is a timeless method that is still used today.

The preparation for canning food varies depending on whether it is meat, vegetables or fruits.

For poultry, you either boil, steam or bake the pieces and cover them with cooking liquid. For red meats, precook until rare by roasting, stewing, or browning in a small amount of fat. Finally, fill up the jars with the pieces and boiling broth or meat drippings.

As for vegetables, you will have to boil them with salt and cover with cooking liquid. The same goes to fruits by replacing salt with sugar. Do note that all canned food must be stored in a cool, dry place.

Keep passing the salt

When it comes to salt preservation, you have to salute the Egyptians. Albeit through macabre circumstances, they were the first to discover the preservative qualities of salt through mummification.

Fast forward an odd 4,600 days later, salt preservation is still a go-to food preservation method.

In Malaysia, the products of the salting process have taken the forms of salted fish (ikan masin), pickled green mustard (sayur masin) or salted egg (telur masin). While salting has proven to be easy and inexpensive for food preservation, it is mostly used to preserve condiments.

That being said, some of the easiest ways to preserve food relies more on common sense than anything.

For one, don’t pack your refrigerator with too many items as it will result in poor air circulation and shorten the shelf life of the food.

Also do not store packets of meats in the chiller for over three days as the moisture content of the meat will seep out, resulting in bacterial growth and spoilage.

Keep root vegetables like potatoes and onions away from direct sunlight as it will encourage sprouting. Lastly, so not store unripe fruits in the refrigerator as this will halt the ripening process immediately.

Of course, there are other food preservation methods such as fermentation, pickling, smoking, ageing and dehydrating to name a few.

The goal however, is to explore all these options and more, with an aim to try and avoid wastage especially during this difficult pandemic.