Destiny Survival

            How in the world would we get along if we didn’t have our freezers or even a way to can what comes out of the garden?  How did they do things in times past?  Well, I’ve found out about a book that sounds really fascinating and wanted to be sure to tell you about it.  It’s called Preserving Food without Freezing or Canning, by the Gardeners and Farmers of Centre Terre Vivante.  They’re from France, in case you hadn’t guessed.  I’d say the French know a little something about food, wouldn’t you?  By the way, there are forewords in this book by Deborah Madison and Eliot Coleman

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            The full title of the book is Preserving Food without Freezing or Canning: Traditional Techniques Using Salt, Oil, Sugar, Alcohol, Vinegar, Drying, Cold Storage, and Lactic Fermentation.  Whew! What a mouthful, but it does give you some clues as to what you’ll find in this 208 page paperback book.

            Here’s what Amazon’s site says about Preserving Food without Freezing or Canning.

“Typical books about preserving garden produce nearly always assume that modern "kitchen gardeners" will boil or freeze their vegetables and fruits. Yet here is a book that goes back to the future—celebrating traditional but little-known French techniques for storing and preserving edibles in ways that maximize flavor and nutrition. Translated into English, and with a new foreword by Deborah Madison, this book deliberately ignores freezing and high-temperature canning in favor of methods that are superior because they are less costly and more energy-efficient.

“As Eliot Coleman says in his foreword to the first edition, ‘Food preservation techniques can be divided into two categories: the modern scientific methods that remove the life from food, and the natural ‘poetic’ methods that maintain or enhance the life in food. The poetic techniques produce…foods that have been celebrated for centuries and are considered gourmet delights today.’

“Preserving Food Without Freezing or Canning offers more than 250 easy and enjoyable recipes featuring locally grown and minimally refined ingredients. It is an essential guide for those who seek healthy food for a healthy world.

“Centre Terre Vivante is an ecological research and education center located in Mens, Domaine de Raud, a region of southeastern France. Terre Vivante hosts courses on regenerative gardening and farming, renewable energy, and ecological building techniques. In addition to more than fifty books, Terre Vivante publishes the influential organic gardening magazine, Les Quatre Saisons du jardinage.

“Deborah Madison is author of best-selling cookbooks including The Greens Cookbook and Local Flavors: Cooking and Eating from America’s Farmers’ Markets.”

            Now, if you’re as intrigued by that as I am, click right now on the picture of the book below.  That will take you right to the page on Amazon.com where you can order your own copy of Preserving Food Without Freezing or Canning.  Why not get a couple more copies as gifts for family or friends?