Curing (food preservation)
Meat preservation in general (of meat from
While meat-preservation processes like curing were mainly developed in order to prevent
Some traditional cured meat (such as authentic
The combination of table salt with nitrates or nitrites, called curing salt, is often dyed pink to distinguish it from table salt.[7] Neither table salt, nor any of the nitrites or nitrates commonly used in curing (e.g., sodium nitrate [NaNO3],[8] sodium nitrite,[8] and potassium nitrate[9]) is naturally pink.
Necessity of curing
Meat decomposes rapidly if it is not preserved. The speed of decomposition depends on several factors, including ambient humidity, temperature, and the presence of pathogens. Most types of untreated meat cannot be kept at room temperature for lengthy periods before spoiling.[citation needed]
Spoiled meat changes color and exudes a foul odor. Ingestion can cause serious food poisoning. Salt-curing processes were developed in antiquity[10] in order to ensure food safety without relying on then unknown anti-bacterial agents.
The short shelf life of fresh meat does not pose significant problems when access to it is easy and supply is abundant. But in times of scarcity and famine, or when the meat must be transported over long distances, food preservation is powerful.
Curing significantly increases the length of time meat remains edible, by making it inhospitable to the growth of microbes.
History
A survival technique since prehistory, the preservation of meat has become, over the centuries, a topic of political, economic, and social importance worldwide.
Traditional methods
Food curing dates back to ancient times, both in the form of
Several sources describe the
A trade in salt meat occurred across ancient Europe. In Polybius's time (c. 200 – c.118 BCE),[17] the Gauls exported salt pork each year to Rome in large quantities, where it was sold in different cuts: rear cuts, middle cuts, hams, and sausages. This meat, after having been salted with the greatest care, was sometimes smoked. These goods had to have been considerably important, since they fed part of the Roman people and the armies. The Belgae were celebrated above all for the care which they gave to the fattening of their pigs. Their herds of sheep and pigs were so many, they could provide skins and salt meat not only for Rome, but also for most of Italy.[citation needed] The Ceretani of Spain drew a large export income from their hams, which were so succulent, they were in no way inferior to those of Cantabria. These tarichos of pig became especially sought, to the point that the ancients considered this meat the most nourishing of all and the easiest to digest.[15]
In
The smoking of meat was a traditional practice in North America, where Plains Indians hung their meat at the top of their tipis to increase the amount of smoke coming into contact with the food.[11]
Middle Ages
In Europe, medieval cuisine made great use of meat and vegetables, and the guild of butchers was amongst the most powerful. During the 12th century,[19] salt beef was consumed by all social classes. Smoked meat was called carbouclée in Romance tongues[20] and bacon if it was pork.[21]
The Middle Ages made
In the 16th century, the most fashionable pâtés were of woodcock, au bec doré, chapon, beef tongue, cow feet, sheep feet, chicken, veal, and venison.[22] In the same era, Pierre Belon notes that the inhabitants of Crete and Chios lightly salted then oven-dried entire hares, sheep, and roe deer cut into pieces, and that in Turkey, cattle and sheep, cut and minced rouelles, salted then dried, were eaten on voyages with onions and no other preparation.[23]
Early modern era
During the
Scientific research on meat by chemists and pharmacists led to the creation of a new, extremely practical product: meat extract, which could appear in different forms. The need to properly feed soldiers during long campaigns outside the country, such as in the Napoleonic Wars, and to nourish a constantly growing population often living in appalling conditions drove scientific research, but a confectioner, Nicolas Appert, in 1795 developed through experimentation a method which became universal and in one language bears his name: airtight storage, called appertisation in French.
With the spread of appertisation, the 19th-century world entered the era of the "
In France, the summer of 1857 was so hot that most butchers refused to slaughter animals and charcutiers lost considerable amounts of meat, due to inadequate conservation methods. A member of the Academy of Medicine and his son issued a 34-page summary of works completed by 1857, which proposed some solutions: not less than 91 texts exist, of which 64 edited for only the years between 1851 and 1857.[25]
Chemical actions
Salt
Salt (sodium chloride) is the primary ingredient used in meat curing.[11] Removal of water and addition of salt to meat creates a solute-rich environment where osmotic pressure draws water out of microorganisms, slowing down their growth.[11][26] Doing this requires a concentration of salt of nearly 20%.[26]
In sausage production, salt causes the soluble proteins to come to the surface of the meat that was used to make the sausages. These proteins coagulate when the sausage is heated, helping to hold the sausage together.[27]
Sugar
The sugar added to meat for the purpose of curing it comes in many forms, including honey, corn syrup solids, and maple syrup.[28] However, with the exception of bacon, it does not contribute much to the flavor,[29] but it does alleviate the harsh flavor of the salt.[11] Sugar also contributes to the growth of beneficial bacteria such as Lactobacillus by feeding them.[30]
Nitrates and nitrites
Nitrates and nitrites extend shelf life,[citation needed] help kill bacteria, produce a characteristic flavor and give meat a pink or red color.[31] Nitrite (NO−
2) is generally supplied by sodium nitrite or (indirectly) by potassium nitrate. Nitrite salts are most often used to accelerate curing and impart a pink colour.[32] Nitrate is specifically used only in a few curing conditions and products where nitrite (which may be generated from nitrate) must be generated in the product over long periods of time.
Nitrite further breaks down in the meat into
The use of nitrite and nitrate salts for meat in the US has been formally used since 1925.[
Nitrite-containing
The use of nitrites in food preservation is highly controversial
The
Furthermore, while the
Nitrites from celery
Processed meats without "added nitrites" may be misleading as they may be using naturally occurring nitrites from celery instead.[44]
A 2019 report from Consumer Reports[45] found that using celery (or other natural sources) as a curing agent introduced naturally occurring nitrates and nitrites. The USDA allows the term "uncured" or "no nitrates or nitrites added" on products using these natural sources of nitrites, which provides the consumer a false sense of making a healthier choice. The Consumer Reports investigation also provides the average level of sodium, nitrates and nitrites found per gram of meat in their report.
Consumer Reports and the Center for Science in the Public Interest filed a formal request to the USDA to change the labeling requirements in 2019.[46]
Smoke
Meat can also be preserved by "smoking". If the smoke is hot enough to slow-cook the meat, this will also keep it tender..
Smoking helps seal the outer layer of the food being cured, making it more difficult for bacteria to enter. It can be done in combination with other curing methods such as salting. Common smoking styles include hot smoking, smoke roasting (pit barbecuing) and cold smoking. Smoke roasting and hot smoking cook the meat while cold smoking does not. If the meat is cold smoked, it should be dried quickly to limit bacterial growth during the critical period where the meat is not yet dry. This can be achieved, as with jerky, by slicing the meat thinly.
The smoking of food directly with wood smoke is known to contaminate the food with carcinogenic
Effect of meat preservation
On health
Since the 20th century, with respect to the relationship between diet and human disease (e.g. cardiovascular, etc.), scientists have conducted studies on the effects of lipolysis on vacuum-packed or frozen meat. In particular, by analyzing entrecôtes of frozen beef during 270 days at −20 °C (−4 °F), scientists found an important phospholipase that accompanies the loss of some unsaturated fat n-3 and n-6, which are already low in the flesh of ruminants.[50]
In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization classified processed meat, that is, meat that has undergone salting, curing, fermenting, or smoking, as "carcinogenic to humans".[51][52][36]
On trade
The improvement of methods of meat preservation, and of the means of transport of preserved products, has notably permitted the separation of areas of production and areas of consumption, which can now be distant without it posing a problem, permitting the exportation of meats.
For example, the appearance in the 1980s of preservation techniques under controlled atmosphere sparked a small revolution in the world's market for sheep meat: the lamb of New Zealand, one of the world's largest exporters of lamb, could henceforth be sold as fresh meat, since it could be preserved from 12 to 16 weeks, which was a sufficient duration for it to reach Europe by boat. Before, meat from New Zealand was frozen, thus had a much lower value on European shelves. With the arrival of the new "chilled" meats, New Zealand could compete even more strongly with local producers of fresh meat.[53] The use of controlled atmosphere to avoid the depreciation which affects frozen meat is equally useful in other meat markets, such as that for pork, which now also enjoys an international trade.[54]
See also
- Biltong – Form of dried, cured meat from southern Africa
- Brining – Food processing by treating with brine or salt
- Ceviche – Dish of marinated raw seafood
- Charcuterie – Branch of cooking of prepared meat products, primarily from pork
- Cured fish – Fish subjected to fermentation, pickling or smoking
- Curing salt – Salt used in food preservation
- Fermentation in food processing – Converting carbohydrates to alcohol or acids using anaerobic microorganisms
- List of dried foods
- List of smoked foods
- Pickling – Procedure of preserving food in brine or vinegar
- Sausage making – Sausage production processes
Notes
- Athenaeus of Naucratis in his Deipnosophistae, IV, 14.137f (en ligne)
References
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- ^ "Parma and Iberian hams, red from zinc". Curious Cook. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
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{{cite book}}
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- ^ Schweihofer, Jeannine (21 October 2014). "Cured meat color: Part 3". MSU Extension.
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The results show that there is no change in levels of inoculated C botulinum over the curing process, which implies that the action of nitrite during curing is not toxic to C botulinum spores at levels of 150ppm [parts per million] ingoing nitrite and below.
- ISBN 978-1580082624. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
- ^ ISBN 9780471663744. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
- ^ Buege, Dennis (2001). "Information on sausages and sausage manufacture". Meat Science. University of Wisconsin. Archived from the original on 23 December 2003. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
- ^ "PROSCIUTTO DI PARMA PDO". Italian Made. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
- ^ a b c d e Ray, Frederick K. Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service (PDF) (Report). Oklahoma State University. Retrieved 15 December 2010.
- ^ A nomadic shepherd people, considered by classical authors to be made up of warriors et de brigands; the object of a victorious campaign by Alexander the Great in the fourth century.
Francfort, Henri-Paul (1984). "Pierre Briant : État et pasteurs au Moyen-Orient ancien". Bulletin de l'École française d'Extrême-Orient (in French). 73 (1): 369–384. - ^ Diodore de Sicile, Bibliothèque historique, XIX, 19 cité par Koehler, 1832, p. 432, note 724 (p. 486).
- ^ Strabon, Géographie, XVI, 1.7.
- ^ a b c (in French) M. Koehler, Tarichos ou recherches sur l’histoire et les antiquités des pêcheries de la Russie méridionale, in Mémoires de l’Académie impériale des sciences de Saint-Pétersbourg, 6th series, book I, Imp. of the Académie impériale des sciences, Saint Petersburg, 1832, p. 347 à 490 (en ligne).
- ^ (in Latin) Apicii Coelii, De opsoniis et condimentis, sive arte coquinaria, libri decem. Cum annotationibus Martini Lister, Londres, 1705, livre II, ch. 2, p. 59.
- ^ Marquardt, Joachim (1893). Humbert, Gustave Amédée (ed.). La Vie Privée des Romains part 2: Travail et Loisirs. Manuel des antiquités romaines (in French). Vol. XV. Paris: Thorin et Fils. pp. 52–56, esp. p 54.
- ^ Pliny, Histoire naturelle, VI, 35.17
- ^ En Normandie par example : Léopold Delisle, Études historiques et archéologiques en province depuis 1848 cité dans la Revue des deux mondes, XI (XXIe année), Paris, 1851, p. 1048.
- ^ Jean-Baptiste-Bonaventure de Roquefort, Supplément au glossaire de la langue romane, Chasseriau et Hécart, Paris, 1820, 308 pages
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- ^ Pierre Belon, Voyage au Levant, les observations de Pierre Belon du Mans, de plusieurs singularités et choses mémorables, trouvées en Grèce, Turquie, Judée, Égypte, Arabie et autres pays estranges, 1553.
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In trade journals of the 1960s, the firms who sold nitrite powders to ham-makers spoke quite openly about how the main advantage was to increase profit margins by speeding up production.
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Processed meat was classified as carcinogenic to humans (Group 1), based on sufficient evidence in humans that the consumption of processed meat causes colorectal cancer.
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- Article in The Scientist, Volume 13, No. 6:1, Mar. 15, 1999 (registration required).[dead link]
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