Honeyed Words: How to get a Dragon into A Pickle(d Beet)

How to get a Dragon into A Pickle(d Beet) · 10 April 2007

So, just what do Pickled Beets have to do with His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik? The Napoleonic wars gave birth to the process of canning. The feeding of a large military force was one of the main concerns of the time. A starving army doesn’t win many battles.

Paraphrasing Wikipedia:

To meet his military aims, Napolean prompted a prominent French newspaper to advertize a cash reward to the first person who could come up with a cost efficient way to preserve the massive amounts of food needed to sustain the military.

In 1809, Nicolas François Appert delivered with a method of vacuum-sealing food in glass jars. Though glass wasn’t suited to the rough journey that army food would have to survive, from Appert’s initial invention came the modern day pursuits of canning.

Early canning attempts were sometimes less than safe. Imprecision in sealing could lead to spoilage, early cans had to be opened with bayonets or smashed against rocks, and some cans were made with lead solder, giving the consumers of the food lead poisoning.

The British warred France for the entirety of the Napoleonic wars and by the end of wartime, the Brits had entered the foray of canning themselves. Since Laurence and Temeraire were in the British forces, by the end of the war they will have undoubtedly run across this newfangled method of getting food to the military. I doubt Temeraire will find it very tasty, but knowing his curious disposition he may find it fascinating.

I thought it would be fun to try some canning of my own and I knew just what to attempt. A few months ago, I had some amazing beets as part of the antipasto bar at a favorite Italian restaurant. These were the kind of beets that you give to beet haters and say “If you don’t like these beets, then you really don’t like beets.” Mixed with parsley and sweet tart, I have been meaning to try to recreate them for months.

Let the record show, my last experience with canning was back in the 80's. My mother had a friend with two huge pomegranate trees (sadly now bulldozed down to make room for a strip mall). We used to visit the trees and stuff four huge grocery bags full of pomegranates in order to make jelly. The thing that sticks out most in my mind about making pomegranate jelly is the shelling of pomegranates. Those buggers are a lot of work.

Picture of a Pomegranate

At the end of the day, we’d end up with a few bowls of pomegranate seeds and fingers so stained with juice they were practically black. The next day, we’d get up bright and early and get to work on boiling the poor seeds into oblivion. I didn’t pay as much attention to this process, mostly because I was too young to help, but I distinctly remember Pectin, probably because the name struck me as funny. I also remember the wax seals used to preserve the jelly because it seemed like they would be great fun to play with. As you can see, I had no idea what I was getting into.

After reading up on modern canning I think the most important thing in selecting a good modern canning guide is to make sure it scares the living daylights out of you. If you don’t find instructions that warn about botulism at every step, then find another guide. It seems that potential botulism boogers can sprout up where you’d least expect them, from the sterilization process at the beginning (obvious) to the cooling process after the jars are already sealed (not so obvious).

My searches for canning tips and tricks provided a few great finds.

National Center for Home Food Preservation has a comprehensive list of resources, including links to USDA recommendations, and guidelines for canning to meet food safety standards
PickYourOwn.org has great canning instructions, including tips, tricks, and everything you ever wanted to know about Pectin. A lot of this material is recycled from the USDA site, but some original content (like a canning equipment shopping list) makes it useful. They also have local farm information for all 50 states!
Recipe Goldmine does indeed have a heaping selection of canning recipes to choose from. Be careful to follow all the USDA guidelines if you choose a recipe from here, a lot of these recipes do not spell them out for you.

So, where are the pickled beets you ask? They’re safe in the refrigerator, with their leafy tops intact. You see, it turns out that contrary to the belief of canning enthusiasts, boiling water canners are not standard fare at general stores. Coffee makers, rice cookers, juicers, blenders, toasters, vacuum packers, sorbet icers, slow cookers, poached egg makers, deep fryers, and portable burners are all readily available, but in two hours of shopping I didn’t catch a single whiff of a boiling water canner.

In frustration, I finally vented to my mom, who told me that she had one hiding in her garage all along. But, by the time I figured this out, my beet-canning-time budget had been used up. Beets will follow next post, but until then, enjoy this picture of the cans, pre-botulism-killing rituals.

Picture of empty canning jars