Peterson’s Pickled Peppers?

It’s been a while since we talked about canning and food preservation. Although we have lots of earlier publications that deal with different aspects of food preservation, this week, we’re looking at the oldest manual dedicated to the subject in our collection (at least for now): Peterson’s Preserving, Pickling & Canning Fruit Manual: Containing A Choice Collection of Receipts for Preserving, Pickling and Canning Fruits, Many of Them Being Original from Housewives of Experience, written in 1869 by Mrs. M. E. P[eterson]. If you weren’t sure what this book was about by the title, the subtitle sure clears it up! I think it also serves as an interesting marketing technique. It emphasizes the idea that this is a book written for housewives by housewives.

Front Cover

The first section in the book deals with preserving. With the exception of cucumber and ginger, all the preserved items tend to be fruits.

The second section is about pickling. I’ve said before that these cookbooks teach us you can pickle just about anything. It still holds true. In addition to traditional pickled items, this section includes some other twists…

Pickled walnuts–which aren’t common, but we’ve seen before– and pickled grapes? There are also recipes for pickled tomatoes and nasturtions.

The section on jellies features LOTS of fruit jellies and marmalades, as well as some intriguing butters (watermelon butter?).

There are also some more savory ingredients like tomatoes.

The canning section is actually the shortest part of the book, but it does cover the basics.

The “Miscellaneous” section is really where the creativity comes in. Here we find “gooseberry champagne,” watermelon molasses,” “tomato vinegar,” “oeach leather,” “apple ginger,” “cucumber catsup”…

And some really strange takes on wine (both parsnip AND turnip varieties) fill out the recipes on wines and cordials.

And yes, as the blog title suggests, there are recipes for a variety of pickled peppers, too! Throughout the book we can also find “recipes” that are more like household hints: how to dry herbs, remove fruits stains, or make a sealant for canning jars, for example.

In many cases, Mrs. M. E. P. has attributed the recipe to the author, but she is no more specific than “Mrs. C’s.” We don’t really have a way to trace these recipes. Still, I can’t help but wonder if they might be ladies whose names we’ve seen elsewhere. Whatever the case may be, clearly, Mrs. P. knows her stuff. The best part about this manual is its timelessness. The technology may have changed, but the ingredients haven’t. So next time you’re thinking marmalade or pickles, maybe we can help. 🙂

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