Preserving… in the kitchen generally

In the delightful collection of articles and transcribed broadcasts of Ruth Drew,   eponymously The Happy Housewife, there’s a fund of useful and handy hints covering everything a housewife in the 1940’s and 50’s might need to know. I’m looking at the section on ‘household equipment’; many of us have such a careless attitude to things, partly because it is no longer possible to repair tools and equipment as it used to be. If something breaks, buy a new one! Sixty, seventy years ago not everyone had refrigeration, and very, very few people had freezers.

Here  is just a selection of Ruth’s suggestions for preservation in the kitchen generally:

• preserve perishable food by keeping in a cool place, protected from flies. Meat is best hung up, or placed on a grid loosely covered with grease-proof paper and topped by a ventilated meat cover
• to preserve lettuce, wash in cold slated water. Dry by shaking in a clean cloth. Place in a saucepan, or similar container with a lid. Stand this in a cool place
• to preserve butter and margarine, store in the dark if possible. Light affects vitamin content and may hasten rancidity
• to keep bread fresh, store in a scrupulously clean well-ventilated bin. Or wrap the loaf in a clean dry cloth and stand on a shelf in a well-ventilated cupboard
• to preserve the freshness of cheese, wrap in grease-proof paper and hang in a piece of muslin in a cool airy place. Thoroughly dried cheese may be grated and stored in an airtight jar for cooking purposes
• preserve the food value of vegetables (especially green ones) by storing for as short time as possible before cooking. If storage is unavoidable, choose a cool, airy place. Avoid long preliminary soaking in water
• preserve meals from monotony by making them colourful, sparing a moment to garnish before serving, experimenting with new flavours and shunning a set sequence of menus

These suggestions seem to depend on a traditional pantry or nice big well-ventilated cupboard… Hanging food items has gone completely now!