09-16-2013, 02:10 PM
Limited on tiome now, but I'd ask you to ping me towards the weekend to get me to write down stuff in more detail.
Grain was apparently toasted or dried and stored in ventilated containers. In northern provinces there are still occasional ground silos and indications they may have used grünkern-style kiln-dried unripe grain.
Meat was salted, smoked, air-dried, and may also have been immersed in whey.
Cheese was smoked or air-dried, or immersed in brine
Many fruit and vegetables were dried, some were brined or cured. I strongly suspect the existence of lactic acid fermentation, but cannot prove it.
Certainly quinces were preserved in honey to produce a specific confection
Grapes could be coated in slip or wax to preserve them, though that is more of a parlour trick that a scalable technique
Pulses were dried and stored much like grain
I'm not sure about the techniques for storing fruit, will need to recheck the sources, but IIRC they kept durable fruit in cellars over the winter.
Fish could be salted, smoked, dried, or kept alive in water (often over remarkable distances and time spans).
If you can get your hands on it, there's an excellent book on the subject by David Thurmond called 'For her Bounty Knows No Winter (A Handbook of Food Processing ion Classical Rome) that seems to have gone into hiding right now and is available from Brill at the usual fantastically ridiculous price.
Grain was apparently toasted or dried and stored in ventilated containers. In northern provinces there are still occasional ground silos and indications they may have used grünkern-style kiln-dried unripe grain.
Meat was salted, smoked, air-dried, and may also have been immersed in whey.
Cheese was smoked or air-dried, or immersed in brine
Many fruit and vegetables were dried, some were brined or cured. I strongly suspect the existence of lactic acid fermentation, but cannot prove it.
Certainly quinces were preserved in honey to produce a specific confection
Grapes could be coated in slip or wax to preserve them, though that is more of a parlour trick that a scalable technique
Pulses were dried and stored much like grain
I'm not sure about the techniques for storing fruit, will need to recheck the sources, but IIRC they kept durable fruit in cellars over the winter.
Fish could be salted, smoked, dried, or kept alive in water (often over remarkable distances and time spans).
If you can get your hands on it, there's an excellent book on the subject by David Thurmond called 'For her Bounty Knows No Winter (A Handbook of Food Processing ion Classical Rome) that seems to have gone into hiding right now and is available from Brill at the usual fantastically ridiculous price.
Der Kessel ist voll Bärks!
Volker Bach
Volker Bach
