Pickling Ripe and Green Olives. Frederic T. Bioletti

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      BY

      FREDERIC T. BIOLETTI

      Copyright © 2018 Read Books Ltd.

      This book is copyright and may not be

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      British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

      Contents

       Frederic Theodore Bioletti

       Preserving and Canning Food: Jams, Jellies and Pickles

      Pickling Ripe and Green Olives.

      Experiments with Pickling Ripe Olives.

      Experiments in Pickling Green Olives.

      FREDERIC THEODORE BIOLETTI

      Frederic Theodore Bioletti was born in 1865 in Liverpool, England.

      In 1878, he emigrated to the United States and resided in Sonoma County, California. He attended Heald’s Business School in San Francisco before beginning, what would become his life’s vocation, working for Senator Stanford in his commercial wine cellar at Vina Ranch.

      From 1889 to 1900, Bioletti studied at the University of California, Berkeley, where he received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in 1894 and 1898 respectively. While there, he was an assistant to Professor E. W. Hilgard, a noted soil scientist, with whom he studied the fermentation of wines. Their work greatly influenced the vintner’s of California and resulted in a higher quality grape being produced in the region.

      Bioletti left California for South Africa, in 1901, to teach viticulture, oenology, and horticulture, but returned three years later to rejoin the University at Berkeley. For most of the remainder of his career he taught and conducted research at the University’s Department of Viticulture and Oenology where he was both their first professor and first chair of the department. He also founded the grape breeding program at the University of California Agricultural Experiment Station where he was active in introducing and breeding new varieties of grape. During prohibition, Bioletti had the creative task of attempting to come up with uses for the wine grape other than producing alcohol.

      Bioletti retired in 1935 and died four years later in 1939.

      PRESERVING AND CANNING FOOD: JAMS, JELLIES AND PICKLES

      Food preservation has permeated every culture, at nearly every moment in history. To survive in an often hostile and confusing world, ancient man was forced to harness nature. In cold climates he froze foods on the ice, and in tropical areas, he dried them in the sun. Today, methods of preserving food commonly involve preventing the growth of bacteria, fungi (such as yeasts), and other micro-organisms, as well as retarding the oxidation of fats that cause rancidity. Many processes designed to conserve food will involve a number of different food preservation methods. Preserving fruit by turning it into jam, for example, involves boiling (to reduce the fruit’s moisture content and to kill bacteria, yeasts, etc.), sugaring (to prevent their re-growth) and sealing within an airtight jar (to prevent recontamination). Preservation with the use of either honey or sugar was well known to the earliest cultures, and in ancient Greece, fruits kept in honey were common fare. Quince, mixed with honey, semi-dried and then packed tightly into jars was a particular speciality. This method was taken, and improved upon by the Romans, who cooked the quince and honey - producing a solidified texture which kept for much longer. These techniques have remained popular into the modern age, and especially during the high-tide of imperialism, when trading between Europe, India and the Orient was at its peak. This fervour for trade had two fold consequences; the need to preserve a variety of foods - hence we see more ’pickling’, and the arrival of sugar cane in Europe. Preserving fruits, i.e. making jams and jellies became especially popular in Northern European countries, as without enough natural sunlight to dry food, this was a fail safe method to increase longevity. Jellies were actually most commonly used for savoury items; some foods, such as eels, naturally form a protein gel when cooked - and this dish became especially popular in the East End of London, where they were (and are) eaten with mashed potatoes. Pickling; the technique of preserving foods in vinegar (or other antimicrobial substances such as brine, alcohol or vegetable oil) also has a long history, again gaining precedence with the Romans, who made a concentrated fish pickle sauce called ’garum’. ’Ketchup’ was originally an oriental fish brine which travelled the spice route to Europe (some time during the sixteenth century), and eventually to America, where sugar was finally added to it. The increase in trade with the subcontinent also meant that spices became a common-place item in European kitchens, and they were widely used in pickles to create new and exciting recipes. Soon chutneys, relishes, piccalillis, mustards, and ketchups were routine condiments. Amusingly, Worcester sauce was discovered from a forgotten barrel of special relish in the basement of the Lea and Perrins Chemist shop! As is evident, the story of food preservation, and specifically the modern usages of jams, jellies and pickles encompasses far more than just culinary history. Ancient civilisations, nineteenth century colonialism and accidental discoveries all played a part in creating this staple of our modern diet.