Why did Ireland never take to canning in the way that other countries, such as Spain and Canada, have done? I am perpetually surprised when I travel to these countries and experience how they value canned food.
When I was growing up, and even now, we treat foods in cans as somehow being worth less than their fresh equivalent? But why is this so? Is there a logical answer or it is just our own awkward historical prejudices regarding food? Is fresher always better?
Many of us would turn our nose up at canned asparagus and sardines. But they are just as good, in terms of their benefits, as fresh. Granted, green vegetables lose their colour, but nutritionally they are said to be quite sound.
Tinned seafood is seen as a delicacy in Spain, particularly in the north of the country. Have you ever tried tinned clams, mussels or octopus in Barcelona, while sitting in the sun sipping a nice glass of white Rioja? Moments like that might change your attitude to tinned food forever.
Recently, I came across a recipe for Dover sole and tinned asparagus in Florence Irwin’s The Cookin Woman: Irish Country Recipes, published in 1949. The recipe calls for tinned asparagus tips. Can you even buy them anymore? Perhaps Irish producers should hold back some of their crop for canning.
The purpose of canning is not only to make the food available after its short season ends (a freezer can do that). Canned food has its own particular culture, its own aesthetic. While our asparagus season is only beginning, perhaps we should all preserve a jar of asparagus for ourselves, for a later date.
How to pickle asparagus
Take a bunch of asparagus and cut off the woody end. Bring 600ml of white wine vinegar, 400ml water and 200g of sugar to the boil with a pinch of fennel seeds, a garlic clove, a few juniper berries, and a small handful of fresh herbs, such as dill, rosemary or thyme. Allow this to cool slightly and then pour it over your asparagus. If you want to truly preserve it, you’ll have to cook it again in boiling water with the lid of the jar firmly closed. But I find that it will keep as long as you need it in the fridge.
