By the start of the 20th century cottages hadn’t changed much for hundreds of years. Food preservation and storage was essential to get through the winter months and a constant battle was raged against rodents, insects and other pests, without the actual problems of keeping food edible.
Preserving methods consisted of:
– Salting (usually for meat and fish),
– Smoking (where the food was often hung from a hook inside the chimney to cure, again for meat and fish),
– Pickling (where vegetables were preserved in either brine (salt water) or vinegar.
Some foods such as fruit were dried or made into jams, chutneys and curds.
Dairy products such as hard cheeses were sealed in cloths and eggs were hard boiled and pickled to extend their edible lives. Some meats and seafood could be placed in small bowls and sealed with butter to the depth of about ½-inch/1 cm; today potted shrimps are seen as a luxury food item!
Some food items, such as meat were also preserved in melted lard (leading to the word larder). Nuts such as walnuts were pickled whilst young and green. Other nuts were picked and stored in outbuildings along with trays of fruit (apples, pears) and sacks of vegetables (such as potatoes), onions were stung up in plaits and hung from ceilings, carrots and other root vegetables were buried in sandy soil in wooden boxes. Peas and beans were dried and stored in sacks until needed. Herbs were dried and hung in bunches from beams in the ceiling, or stored in pots.
We have a selection of miniatures suitable for preservation of food and cookery items on our web shop