Traditional Food Preservation Methods Are Returning In Popularity Among Americans

Traditional Food Preservation Methods Are Returning In Popularity Among Americans

We come across articles from newspapers printed in the 1800’s that contain recipes and cooking tips that you might find interesting. Some have become our favorites and others are simply amusing.

Traditional food preservation methods are returning in popularity among Native American tribes and communities in South Dakota. Elders are teaching youth about the traditional practice of sun-drying corn and wild berries. This tradition brings families together and can be passed on from generation to generation. Buffalo meat was also traditionally sun-dried; this practice is now more commonly done in a food dehydrator. Jerky or bapa (dried buffalo meat used in soups and stews) and sun-dried corn and wild berries are healthy foods that provide sustenance to the Native American diet.

Research funded through a USDA Food Safety Initiative grant identified traditional Native American methods of food preservation. Members of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate (tribe) and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe were interviewed to determine methods currently being used to dry meat, corn, and berries. As the interviews were being conducted, a strong sense of family and tradition in this simple method of preserving was apparent. Of the individuals surveyed, 93% learned the method from their elders (mother, father, aunt, uncle, grandparent). The average age range of the participants was 41–50; 33% reported they usually worked alone, indicating the traditions are not being passed on to youth. Modern methods of drying meat, usually using a food dehydrator, included shortcuts that may increase the risk of contamination to the food product.

RELATED : Skills Of The Native Hunters – Pemmican The Ultimate Survival Food

Guidelines for Storing Meat

In the 1800’s people in the West didn’t have a refrigerator or freezer to keep their meat fresh, so they used other means. Below are summer guidelines for storing meat. Incidentally, we don’t recommend your trying these methods today. They are not that dependable.

Cover the meat with sour milk or buttermilk and store in a cellar.

In areas where the nights are cool, hang the meat in the open from a tree so any breeze can pass around it. Make sure the meat is brought inside at dawn. During the day wrap the meat in a tarp and store in a shady place. Make sure the blow flies don’t deposit eggs on the meat.

Keep the meat away from rain and damp nights. Any meat that gets wet must be cooked or jerked immediately.

Smoking as a means to make jerky or dried fish was a popular method employed by a variety of tribes, region depending. It was a very simple and effective way to long-term store large amounts of meat.

Method employed by Plains tribes for making jerky, with meat hung on drying racks

Jerky made in this fashion is not entirely like our modern jerky. Traditional jerky tends to be more brittle, almost more like a chip, and it not chewy like store-bought commercial jerky.

Another popular method on the plains was pemmican. This method involved powdered jerky mixed with rendered fats and berries such as bearberry. This type of food is very high calorie, and therefore ideal as a long-term winter food. It is so effective, that it was used extensively on Arctic expeditions as a food source, and is still used today.

Recipes and regional variations would differ, of course, but broadly speaking these two methods are some of the more prevalent methods.

If you include fish into your definition of meat, look to the North-west Coast cultures, where they have numerous ways to preserve large quantities of salmon for long-term storage as well.

Buckboard bacon

Buckboard bacon is every bit as easy to make as regular bacon. As we processed the pig, I set aside the ham meat according to its intended use. Once I had enough meat for the buckboard bacon, I cut it into 2-inch-thick slabs, so that it looked somewhat like the pork belly slabs.
Once the meat was weighed, I made the curing mix — ¼ cup canning and pickling (non-iodized) salt, 1 cup of sugar, ½ cup table mustard (not powdered), and 1 teaspoon ground black pepper for every 5 pounds of bacon. I mixed it well, then rubbed it into the meat, making sure it got worked into any crevices.
It might seem odd that the curing mix contained mustard. I know it made me nervous. I like mustard on sandwiches, but did I want mustard-flavored bacon? Definitely not. However, the finished product doesn’t even hint of mustard, so you can use it with confidence.

READ MORE HERE