On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 351
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underclarifiedbutter.Infactthetermisa
fairly inclusive one. It comes via the
French verbconfire, from the Latin
conficere, meaning “to do, to produce, to
make, to prepare.” The French verb was
first applied in medieval times to fruits
cooked and preserved in sugar syrup or
honey(henceFrenchconfitureandEnglish
confection) or in alcohol. Later it was
applied to vegetables pickled in vinegar,
olives in oil, various foods in salt, and
meats under fat. The general sense has
been to immerse a food in and often
impregnate it with a substance that both
flavorsitandpreservesit.Inmodernusage
of the termconfit, the connotations of
immersion, impregnation, flavoring, and
slow,deliberatepreparationsurvive,while
theideaofpreservation—andthespecial
flavors that develop over weeks and
months—hasfadedaway.
CannedMeats
CannedMeats
Around1800,aFrenchbrewerand
confectionernamedNicolasAppert
discoveredthatifhesealedfoodinaglass
containerandthenheatedthecontainerin
boilingwater,thefoodwouldkeep
indefinitelywithoutspoiling.Thiswasthe
beginningofcanning,aformofpreservation
inwhichthefoodisfirstisolatedfromairand
externalcontaminationbymicrobes,andthen
heatedsufficientlytodestroyanymicrobes
alreadyinthefood.(Pasteurhadn’tyetproven
theexistenceofmicrobes;Appertsimply
observedthatall“ferments”weredestroyedin
hisprocess.)Whendoneproperly,canningis
quiteeffective:cannedmeatacenturyoldhas
beeneatenwithoutharm,ifalsowithoutmuch
pleasure.Thecanningofmeatsisalmost
exclusivelyanindustrialprocesstoday,inpart
becauseitoffersthecooklittleinthewayof
desirableflavorsortextures.
