Story
Taste
In today’s fast-paced culture of quickly changing food trends, along
with its endless stream of ever-changing cooking shows and flashy
restaurants, I tend to wonder about a time when tastes were simple and
trends were slow moving. More specifically, I think of the late 19th
Century and the home canning trend. For me, taste can transport the mind
to another place and time.
Imagine if you were living in the Smoky Mountains 150 years ago, and your daily meal routines consisted of what you could provide as well as what your surroundings offered. Meals were often prepared twice a day with fresh ingredients such as eggs, greens, fruits and vegetables. Combine with that the dried staples that were the result of many hours of hard work, including various corn products, beans and apples. Also scattered throughout the mix were salt-cured meats and fermented items like sauerkraut and hard ciders and wines. Sound good? Well it should, based on the fact that many mountain people after leaving their home places pine for these delectables.
Around this same time, November 30, 1858 to be exact, John Mason patented his invention, the Mason jar. It started a preserving revolution that is still going strong to this day. I can only assume that it also made an impact on the palate so profound it would change the way our mountain ancestors tasted food. Evidence of this can be found in comparing cookbooks before and after the Civil War. Numerous recipes of relishes, pickles and jams abound later in books. Now armed with pantries of jars filled with seasonal bounties, folks could spruce up any meal with the twist of a lid. Think about how the taste of blackberry jam on a hot, fluffy biscuit in the middle of a hard winter could conjure up memories of sunshine and green mountain sides.
Taste certainly has the ability to transform the mundane into spectacular. Taste can separate the good from the bad. You should explore and even challenge what taste is to you. And you should never take it lightly. Taste is life.
Imagine if you were living in the Smoky Mountains 150 years ago, and your daily meal routines consisted of what you could provide as well as what your surroundings offered. Meals were often prepared twice a day with fresh ingredients such as eggs, greens, fruits and vegetables. Combine with that the dried staples that were the result of many hours of hard work, including various corn products, beans and apples. Also scattered throughout the mix were salt-cured meats and fermented items like sauerkraut and hard ciders and wines. Sound good? Well it should, based on the fact that many mountain people after leaving their home places pine for these delectables.
Around this same time, November 30, 1858 to be exact, John Mason patented his invention, the Mason jar. It started a preserving revolution that is still going strong to this day. I can only assume that it also made an impact on the palate so profound it would change the way our mountain ancestors tasted food. Evidence of this can be found in comparing cookbooks before and after the Civil War. Numerous recipes of relishes, pickles and jams abound later in books. Now armed with pantries of jars filled with seasonal bounties, folks could spruce up any meal with the twist of a lid. Think about how the taste of blackberry jam on a hot, fluffy biscuit in the middle of a hard winter could conjure up memories of sunshine and green mountain sides.
Taste certainly has the ability to transform the mundane into spectacular. Taste can separate the good from the bad. You should explore and even challenge what taste is to you. And you should never take it lightly. Taste is life.
Imagine if you were living in the Smoky Mountains 150 years ago, and your daily meal routines consisted of what you could provide as well as what your surroundings offered. Meals were often prepared twice a day with fresh ingredients such as eggs, greens, fruits and vegetables. Combine with that the dried staples that were the result of many hours of hard work, including various corn products, beans and apples. Also scattered throughout the mix were salt-cured meats and fermented items like sauerkraut and hard ciders and wines. Sound good? Well it should, based on the fact that many mountain people after leaving their home places pine for these delectables.
Around this same time, November 30, 1858 to be exact, John Mason patented his invention, the Mason jar. It started a preserving revolution that is still going strong to this day. I can only assume that it also made an impact on the palate so profound it would change the way our mountain ancestors tasted food. Evidence of this can be found in comparing cookbooks before and after the Civil War. Numerous recipes of relishes, pickles and jams abound later in books. Now armed with pantries of jars filled with seasonal bounties, folks could spruce up any meal with the twist of a lid. Think about how the taste of blackberry jam on a hot, fluffy biscuit in the middle of a hard winter could conjure up memories of sunshine and green mountain sides.
Taste certainly has the ability to transform the mundane into spectacular. Taste can separate the good from the bad. You should explore and even challenge what taste is to you. And you should never take it lightly. Taste is life.
Shannon Walker, Preservationist
In today’s fast-paced culture of quickly changing food trends, along with its endless stream of ever-changing cooking shows and flashy restaurants, I tend to wonder about a time when tastes were simple and trends were slow moving. More specifically, I think of the late 19th Century and the home canning trend. For me, taste can transport the mind to another place and time.Imagine if you were living in the Smoky Mountains 150 years ago, and your daily meal routines consisted of what you could provide as well as what your surroundings offered. Meals were often prepared twice a day with fresh ingredients such as eggs, greens, fruits and vegetables. Combine with that the dried staples that were the result of many hours of hard work, including various corn products, beans and apples. Also scattered throughout the mix were salt-cured meats and fermented items like sauerkraut and hard ciders and wines. Sound good? Well it should, based on the fact that many mountain people after leaving their home places pine for these delectables.
Around this same time, November 30, 1858 to be exact, John Mason patented his invention, the Mason jar. It started a preserving revolution that is still going strong to this day. I can only assume that it also made an impact on the palate so profound it would change the way our mountain ancestors tasted food. Evidence of this can be found in comparing cookbooks before and after the Civil War. Numerous recipes of relishes, pickles and jams abound later in books. Now armed with pantries of jars filled with seasonal bounties, folks could spruce up any meal with the twist of a lid. Think about how the taste of blackberry jam on a hot, fluffy biscuit in the middle of a hard winter could conjure up memories of sunshine and green mountain sides.
Taste certainly has the ability to transform the mundane into spectacular. Taste can separate the good from the bad. You should explore and even challenge what taste is to you. And you should never take it lightly. Taste is life.
Shannon Walker, Preservationist