Dito ko lang narining yung canning, nung ma-expose na ako sa byenan kong 40 years nang ginagawa yun. I had my first taste of homecanned goodies when my hubby asked from his mom two quarts of packed raw tomatoes for making lasagna
The actual method of canning I first saw when my in-laws invited me to see how they process maple syrup. Now that I have produce from my vegetable garden, my canning experience widened, and it is such a delight to finally feel the power to make my own spaghetti sauce, ketchup, sweet corn cream-style, pickle relish, etc. These were things that I longed to know during my childhood years, when I would often wonder how tomato ketchup was made. Now I have unlocked the secret. All the knowledge I have been yearning for regarding food preservation techniques, especially for these vegetables and fruits that I can now only get fresh only during summertime, are available online. I wish such techniques were also shared for free by the Filipinos who knew how to make mixes for such recipes as mechado and menudo, but then, understandably, those are kept secret for purposes of business and profit. I hope that with this little endeavor of mine to expose the secrets at least of foreign canned products which we Filipinos have been enjoying, some of us back there in the Philippines will be creative enough to come up with our very own recipes, which we might find useful and profitable not only in the local market but also in the international market. Or, at least, I hope the Filipinos who will come across these recipe pages for preserving foods will try to be self-reliant food-wise.
One thing I noticed about their berries here is that most of these are more sour than sweet, but the flavor is so strong, like the raspberries and strawberries. I wonder if some Filipino food scientists (if any) have any ideas on how to preserve such items as ripe or green mangoes, aratilis, etc, taking into consideration the sugar level inherently present in the fruits. I hope to find a website that features such Filipino ingenuity in food preservation, because I believe that while in the Philippines the need for preserving is not so strong, our inclination to not waste anything might propel us to learn these food preservation techniques. |
