From fondue pots to frozen yogurt, all trends are cyclical, culinary or otherwise. And while it may seem as outdated as Tupperware parties, home canning is making a comeback.
Cookbooks and websites devoted to canning are suddenly everywhere, and the
New York Times,
Salon, and
Washington Post have all recently devoted lengthy articles to the trend. And the
Times reports that sales of home canning equipment have exploded, growing by fifty percent in the last year alone.
Why canning, why now? The word tends to conjure up images of Depression-era housewives slaving over boiling pots with their mason jars, preserving the harvest for the months to come in an era before the mega-supermarket.
But in a number of ways, canning is perfect for today’s world. The current economic situation has people, more than ever, attempting to make once-purchased staples at home. Those who want to buy locally and in season, from farmers markets and CSAs, can make the most of a fresh produce haul. And those interested in recycling, cutting back on extraneous shipping and packaging, can reuse those glass jars
ad infinitum.
So how to get started? Salon has a few
books and recipes for the would-be canner. But once you get the basic process down, the possibilities are limitless.
Photo from The Bitten Word