Historic Food Preservation - Potted Salmon

[@townsends]

Check out our pottery items, quite a few of which were used in the episode! www.townsends.us/collections/pottery

[@patriciatow2485]

When I was growing up on a farm, we didn't have a freezer so when we butchered a pig my grandfather would fry all the sausage, keep the grease from it, layer the cooked sausage in a stone crock, pour over the grease, layer by layer and top it off with a couple inches of grease, put the wood top on and we ate the sausage through the winter by removing one layer at a time.. it never went bad and no mold ever grew on it.

[@GeorgeOrwell-yz6zx]

Thank you for the amazing story

[@justpatty7328]

Patricia, was it stored in the root cellar or just in the kitchen?

[@wn9500]

Most microorganisms can’t grow using lipids, and any that can mostly come from cheeses and aren’t dangerous. I guess if you cook the sausage hot enough and layer the fat over when it’s still hot enough to stop bacteria in the sausage growing, the oil keeps any harmful microorganisms from falling in and keeps it reasonably safe to eat. I guess it’s the same with confit duck…

[@patriciatow2485]

@@justpatty7328 sorry, I just now saw this question. It was kept in the root cellar.

[@johnscape2297]

We do something similar in Lebanon, we call it awarma (not shawarma) 😊

[@marcireale]

My husband’s uncle made potted spiced pork until just a year before he died. He simmered pork roast with pickling spices until it was falling apart tender, drained it and removed any tendons and gristle. Then he ground it and packed it into a small-mouthed clay pot (which we now have) he poured hot lard on the meat until it was covered by about a half inch, and set a small plate on top. Then he simmered it in a water bath for at least four hours. Let it cool, remove the plate and cover the top with a piece of greased heavy paper (he used a grocery sack) and tied it on with string. He then tied twine around the neck of the jar and lowered it onto a ledge in the well, as they had no springhouse. (By the time I knew him, he had a refrigerator and kept his potted pork in the fridge.) He would scrape back the lard, dig out some potted pork, and spread the lard back over the meat with a spoon. He ate it with saltines. He also fried it and ate it with sliced hard boiled eggs for breakfast. He would like only offer some to people he really liked, because it was laborious to make.

[@10191927]

That sounds amazing! I wish I could’ve tried that out, I too love laborious processes that yield amazing results. I often bake bread for people I know, I just make bread by hand, no bread machine or other methods, just hand done the way it was always done.

[@richardmartin-hugessen7405]

That sounds wonderful!

[@kronostheking7190]

Great story, thanks for sharing!

[@replicators]

Sounds a lot like the Potted Beef recipe Townsend did 4 years ago. Neat to hear that people still do it.

[@johnree6106]

Interesting probably taste great

[@BrigadierPickles]

Would you ever consider making 12 of them and seeing how they age over a year? You'd be able to create a 18th century best by date!

[@ravenwolf7128]

I think that's a great idea.

[@SavageAirguns]

Fantastic idea

[@drewcagno]

Y'all are some brave folk. Just saying. Lol

[@thesupreme8062]

Salmon is expensive

[@drewcagno]

@@thesupreme8062 I suspect salmon was super cheap in the 18th century.

[@e.s.l5861]

This dude cooks, does IT work, builds canoes, ovens & and cabins, is a historian,……. And is apparently also a potter. He’s truly a modern interpretation of the time period he’s devoted his life to.

[@TOTO_plays]

I know this sounds odd, but he’s also got an 1800’s face!

[@absolutesemen]

@@TOTO_plays I mean both of you are really dancing around the fact that he's a time traveller so I'll just go ahead and put that out there

[@e.s.l5861]

@@absolutesemen ……..maybe he’s dr. Who

[@wizewizard1840]

ovens & and cabins

[@totallylegityoutubeperson4170]

@@wizewizard1840 Do you feel like you accomplished something?

[@jackstrubbe7608]

My Bavarian great grandmother also poured melted beeswax and paraffin over hers, once the butter/ghee had set. She had little triangular stilts to raise them and poured the melted wax over the entire. There were two shelves in her pantry for potted products, the lower one for waxed pots which had a longer shelf life. I became a ceramist because the process fascinated me.

[@stamasd8500]

Potting isn't dead. I learned from my grand-mother how to make potted sausages in lard with paprika. You cook the sausages in lard, pack them in a jar tightly and cover them up in the jar with the lard and paprika. Then you set them up in a cool place like a pantry. They keep for months, and actually get better with time. They get creamy, not quite spreadable but definitely soft. It's my favorite way to cook sausages.

[@Tokmurok]

The fridge would be too cold right? I live in a hot country so cool places are hard to come by in the summer

[@aKjohn8798]

@@Tokmurok the ground is always 52-55 degrees past 5ft. Dig a big ol hole.

[@RaptorJesus]

I am curious as to what the difference between Confit and that is.

[@FutmamiMami]

@• 72 years ago it doesn't hurt to keep preserved foods in the fridge. it might take longer to develop an "aged" flavor, but it's safe to do so and would likely help it last longer. preservation methods slow down/control harmful decay and the cold slows things down even further.

[@kevinmaher1783]

@@RaptorJesus confit is cooked in its own fat. If he used just salmon fat then it would be a confit.

[@nissan300ztt]

My dude really does things completely authentic. Down to the flintstone pottery wheel.

[@han3wmanwukong125]

Yup.

[@rashoietolan3047]

And that is why he prospers

[@ichiro2404]

barefoot.

[@jordanbridges]

Good eye, mate

[@douglasparkinson4123]

probably costs a fortune though

[@richters3renestorm]

I need this man on my team in case of an apocolypse. With him we wont survive; we will thrive.

[@secretsniffthecheeseslice5295]

imagine if you didn't have the resources-

[@titus4440]

He will be our international relief force for rebuilding society

[@memnoch9418]

Same thoughts

[@Vapourwear]

Love how life 250 years ago is now “the apocalypse.” Lol. We’re so soft; that is why we suffer so.

[@skillc4ndy784]

@@Vapourwear Nobody said that. Read again...

[@rupertprawnworthy758]

Potted shrimps are still a delicacy in the north west of England, it is made using tiny native brown shrimps traditionally caught around Morecombe bay and is made much like how you made the potted salmon here. It is always spiced with a little nutmeg and mace and is typically served on hot toast or as a sauce/garnish element over dover or lemon sole.

[@henrylafferty4814]

That sounds amazing thank you.

[@fenixmacariuscornett1675]

I am an Indigenous Central Texan Mexican, and British Food is my comfort food, just something about it is just a little more indulgent and yet at the same time even more simple and thereby more elegant than anything Continental. All of that is extremely pleasing to my Southern US Sensibilities 😂

[@nildabridgeman8104]

Baxter's Potted Shrimp 🍤? I've only heard of them but are unable to eat them. I became allergic to shellfish at around 34

[@aaronrashott3514]

Shrimp with nutmeg and mace sounds awful. Not kicking it around, cuz that area of the world is my heritage, but hell no.

[@The-Secret-Dragon]

I was just about to comment this! Love me some potted shrimp! Absolutely heavenly! 😋

[@johansmallberries9874]

It’s funny, I never realized how important potting was to food preservation and transport, but its prevalence explains why ceramics are always such an abundant thing found on archeological sites.

[@d.r.monroe5966]

My Irish grandmother potted fish and seafood in general all the time. We always ate it. My husband's Sicilian family similarly did something like this with olive oil - he grew up with that.

[@bunnyslippers191]

My grandmother used to talk about preserving cooked meat in crocks with lard poured over it when she was young. Covering cooked meat and fish with fat of some kind to preserve it seems to be pretty widespread method or preservation.

[@Amanda-kw1vi]

They say as long as it's covered with oil (fat) it should be good :)

[@jacquelinebird8624]

Can you tell me what you used for the pot?? Is it am pottery sold at the store, Walmart? or from a Pottery maker??

[@sorrenblitz805]

@@jacquelinebird8624 I would think you could use almost any container for the actual "Pot" as long as you can fill it with fish meat and clarified butter till there be no pockets of air.

[@LJAndrews1986]

So how many sprinkles of nutmeg do we need per pot Jon? Never change you beautiful soul.

[@billmiller4972]

Easy. Use "just the right amount" according to taste. (SCNR)

[@johnsegertsons2143]

How much nutmeg do you want Jon? Jon: Yes

[@Hablagrabla]

That intro was fantastic.

[@jamesellsworth9673]

Jon can also raise pots as well as toss them!

[@Cornerstanding]

Seriously the best! Very relaxing!!!

[@claypotts2334]

Thing of beauty

[@tsalvlaxitov9594]

The music is Delicate by Damien Rice.

[@SVDBYTHBLD]

My aunt Elma and I got caught in a mudslide after a wild rainstorm and we made it to a run down camp near an embankment. This was in Minnehaha Minnesota and the year was 1974. My aunt was 78 at the time, but she was spry and she kept us moving when the mud would rise. We found a family that had too, been cut off by the mudslide. We subsisted on POTTED SALMON for two weeks! We made it and my aunt, how I miss her, said she’d never harm a single little fishy again. Great video as always!

[@jcsfrancisco9417]

Nothing more soothing than seeing Jon make simple yet perfect clay pots from scratch. Reminds me that there's something beautiful in good, old-fashioned manual labor and artisanship. 💪💪💪💪💪

[@philaphobic]

Wow, Jon, you throw pots too?! That was a beautiful intro.

[@JessHull]

he throws them all over the place, they're great!

[@BMassey1987]

He's a regular Link from 'The Legend of Zelda' with all the pots he's throwing!

[@glorygloryholeallelujah]

Legend says, he had to learn when he ran out of containers to stash his nutmeg...

[@Pactastic042]

@@BMassey1987 HYAAAAAI

[@ritaking8827]

I have to agree that was a killer intro!

[@SuperZebezian]

Jon, since this is a preservation cooking method, I think it would be awesome if you kept some of this potted salmon stashed away to revisit maybe 6 months or a year later! I wonder if/how the taste and texture might change.

[@ricebeansrockroll882]

I'd love to see that!

[@oregonbassboss98]

Excellent question. That would be great to see and experience. I hope that Jon will take up your request.

[@tbm3x]

Agreed! Would love to see you randomly pull some out in a video in the fall.

[@ArchangelExile]

Interesting... 🤔

[@jonored]

There's some concern about botulism doing real preservation with this method, as it's not hot enough to kill the spores and the environment it creates is viable for growth. It's a canning-like method that obviously works well enough to have been useful, but it's not necessarily up to modern safety standards with respect to botulism in particular and we might not opt to accept that risk. Now, it might be pretty neat as well to figure out how to adjust so that a recipe of this sort _would_ get hot enough to kill off botulism; it might be an entertaining, if anachronistic, project and probably would require a pressure cooker.

[@HardcoreHector]

Mr. Townsend, your channel has served to not only renew my own interest in history, but has also become a go-to when I need to smile after a rough day. Cheers to you, and may you never stop enjoying what you do.

[@pizzulo81]

I prefer scotch and a cigar. To each their own.

[@livelife5763]

@@pizzulo81 lol weird addition to this comment but to each their own I suppose

[@Yermawsrat]

@@livelife5763 silence fool

[@jonahbrown5669]

​@@Yermawsrat?

[@marthabenner6528]

My dad showed me this because I want to get into pottery for canning this summer. Thank you.

[@RyllenKriel]

Hey, Jon is a wheel potter! I picked up that craft myself a long time ago. It's very gratifying to make your own dishes and beer mugs. Even my cat has his own special treat bowl.

[@katashley1031]

Do you have your own kiln at home? My husband is a Potter but we live in a tiny flat, can't make him a studio, and his old studio is not an option anymore. :( he misses it so much. I hope we can get him a kick wheel, kiln and a little space to serve as his own studio soon.

[@s.leemccauley7302]

At hog killing time in the fall, one of my grandmothers made sausage and fried it up. Then she layered the sausage patties in a crock. She would start with hot lard in the bottom and then add a layer of patties then cover the patties with hot lard and keep on with this procedure until she had the crock full or ran out of sausage patties. These kept well while she used them all winter. They used both the sausage and lard as needed. A 5 gallon crock hold lots of the patties. I have never tried to do it this way as we had freezers by the time I was 4 or 5.

[@jlshel42]

Wish we had a video of this

[@LycanFerret]

5 gallons should be roughly 75lbs. As a 2 gallon pot holds 30lbs of boneless pork meat and 18lbs of bone-in poultry meat.

[@lukecy8187]

It's incredible how traditional food ways we typically think of as historical have lasted until so recently.

[@somefishhere]

@@lukecy8187 very cool. We are spoiled by all our inventions

[@s.leemccauley7302]

She kept the crock in a cool cellar. Always too any of the patties exposed and used them right away. But wi 9 children and always an extra mouth or sometimes up to about 15 hungry cowboys there were never leftovers she made her own butter and she baked bread daily. I do have great memories of that. She has been gone 60 years now buI can still smell her kitchen and the smell of her bread baking. She made the best sauerkraut and spiced peaches. Dessert was often peaches and fresh cream. She made cottage cheese every week. She had a lot of milk cows.few things were both she canned an frozen veggies and fruit from her garden which was huge.she was always working and sharing her canned goods till the day she died. .

[@Lejar6972]

This technique is still actually used in France - they eat a lot of confit or rillettes which is the same principle. Yours looks delicious!

[@Tristanosaurs]

I mean it is effectively confit. The only real difference is we no longer confit as a method of preservation, only cause it is delicious.

[@Laroling]

I love those french confits, rilettes and terrines. Yum

[@billmiller4972]

Rillettes is quite similar to pemmican I'd say.

[@yobgodababua1862]

I was just about to say that it reminded me of rillettes which we still make today.

[@louisech1963]

Not always in butter but some are done with fat.

[@thedustofthefuture1693]

seeing john laugh after saying "woodcock" made me happier than it should have

[@bigpolski4985]

honestly one of my favorite channels out there. everything is just so useful. I used the potted beef method for venison and it was amazing. let it set 8 months and was still good.

[@danielsprouls9458]

Native Americans produced Pemican in a somewhat similar way. A meat and berry mixture cooked and covered in hot fat, all inside a buffalo hide ball. Then buried in the ground to keep cool.

[@aurinslady7119]

You are a man of many talents. Blessings to you and yours.

[@martino7263]

In Italy we do a similar thing, but with oil instead of butter. We have a lot of olive trees. My grandparents make "funghi sott'olio" "mushrooms under oil" in late summer and they last for a very long time. They use the smaller mushrooms that are also quite soft. Butter and oil are both fats and work the same way conserving food.

[@Agamemnon2]

I've made my own pesto occasionally, and it's really interesting to see occasionally how a bit of basil or something sticking out of the oil gets mouldy relatively quickly, whereas anything below the surface seems to stay good for much longer.

[@gamermanzeake]

Interesting how many people are all over this comment section scared of one disease or another, especially botulism. Food safety didn't start ten years ago folks. If you prepare and preserve your food right, there is no concern of issue, today, tomorrow, or a thousand years ago.

[@ObsoleteVodka]

@@gamermanzeake Agreed, it wasn't as much as hygiene, but industrialization what made these methods obsolete. At least in most parts of the world.

[@Rhiawhyn]

@@gamermanzeake The main issue is temperature. For oils and the like, or foods you can heat to high temps it's a non issue. In this case it's butter and fish, neither handle being heated to the temps required very well. This method works but you are rolling the dice because all it does is heat shock the spores alive. Keep in mind, butter 'back in the day' was very heavily salted. VERY HEAVILY. To the point where it was hard to eat on it's own, heavily. Butter now has salt for flavor, not as a preservation method. If you heavily salt the fish and then do it? Sure. Otherwise? Keep it cold and eat it quickly as this method won't make it reliably safe for this dish in specific over long periods of time.

[@gregavant1992]

@@Rhiawhyn clarifying the butter takes out the milk solids and water, leaving behind what is basically an oil. The problem that some people run into when using it is not letting it cook long enough to separate it completely. Clarified butter, if done correctly, is very shelf stable.

[@nightsong81]

It's probably not the "right" way to eat it, but seeing all that liquid butter made me want to warm the final product and have the butter as a kind of sauce.

[@kertas1991111]

Probably way to fatty as is, but im sure if you use the butter to make some other dishes you get great flavors from that

[@embr4065]

I thought about that when he poured the clarified butter and left the drippings early on. I would think that fish gravy could have been made from the drippings and poured over biscuits or toast.

[@josechamu240]

@@kertas1991111 too*

[@jamescalder326]

@@embr4065 haha yeah i'd definitely be mopping that up with some nice bread

[@mr.kittysavestheworld695]

@@embr4065 I highly doubt people in the past threw away the stuff in the bottom. They would definitely keep it and make something else out of it, like gravy. Wasting food was a big deal.

[@shadodragonette]

Your channel has changed a lot over the years. Still seems your focus is to make history fun, and thank you so much for that! Your team keep it interesting and as accurate as you can. It's not always easy for you and your team, so I like to let you know you are appreciated. Thank you and all of your team and your families.

[@channelname57]

Jon your channel is just amazing. The ambiance is so cozy and how much love you put into everything really shows, not just the meals you're cooking but also explaining a social and historical context. You fill me with the wonder of living in a different time where things were much more real and meaningful.

[@Nighthawkinlight]

Gelatinous potted lamprey...As if you could make lamprey any less appealing

[@joanhoffman3702]

I say, pot the lamprey, then place the pots will they will never see the light of day again.

[@benjaminfreyman4273]

Lol lamb 🤢

[@vikkirobinson4131]

Jellied eels! A London tradition, but the rest of us in the UK are usually less impressed.

[@censusgary]

I suppose you could pot a lamprey in its own slime ...

[@pz7510]

I bet it's actually really good though

[@margaretbarclay-laughton2086]

when my husband was alive we often made potted crab and potted shrimp delicious on toast

[@arthas640]

potted shrimp are still sometimes eaten in southeast asia, i've had those before

[@cbrown6508]

That sounds delicious! I need to try it sometime.

[@gamermanzeake]

I'm sorry for your loss! May the Good Lord Jesus bless you both with a wonderful reuniting some day far in the future. Always keep those memories alive!

[@angelmartin7310]

@@gamermanzeake Amen, my thoughts exactly

[@0Hillbilly]

Charr is delicious, while stationed in Alaska I greatly enjoyed catching and eating Charr. They are in the salmon family, like trout.

[@renpixie]

Well.... in Canada we refer to char as a type of lake trout . Now kokanee we think of as a land-locked salmon. Those are really fun to catch.

[@lauraIngleswilder74]

I was born and raised in Alaska. I hate Artic charr!

[@westcoaster3763]

@@renpixie smoked kokanee is the best

[@renpixie]

@@westcoaster3763 Oh, yeah.

[@jordanbridges]

@@renpixie really fun to eat aswell

[@mrsary7868]

There is an interesting recipe for potted cheese I made once from one of my Lancashire cookbooks. It is made of several types of cheese crumbled and mixed together with spices, brandy and then pressed into small pots with the clarified butter on top.

[@katashley1031]

Sweet fancy moses that sounds incredible!

[@RainbowFlowerCrow]

​@@katashley1031 Lol, I'm totally adding "Sweet fancy Moses" to my lexicon! 😂

[@CormanoWild]

Do you have a link to the recipe or the name of the dish? Sounds incredible

[@kelimar3014]

I actually made this with cod the other day after watching your video and seeing I had basically all the ingredients. This stuff is great on a toasted bagel for breakfast.

[@bizznick444joe7]

Buttered Salmon or tuna sounds better imo

[@wayneames8775]

I really like how you make history come back to life . I'm a trained chef. I'm also a history enthusiastic I like how you bring the two together. I live in Michigan and go up to Mackinac when I can and they show a lot of how they used to cook. Please keep up the good work thank you for bringing this to us God bless you

[@gopnik-0012]

Might I turn you on to Tasting History with Max Miller?

[@DedicatedAngler]

@@gopnik-0012 Walter!

[@umarabdullah5510]

This is one of the few channels on KZbin that is wholesome and not filled with fake people doing fake things.

[@artstrutzenberg7197]

Ran across one of the vids like 6+ months ago...and was one of those that I kept binge watching, and realized 5 hours later that I should turn off the laptop to get some sleep....

[@suzannehartmann946]

@Qimodis I take it you do not see silly people often

[@johnree6106]

Well he is an reenactors so that is basically faking living in the past. Great content and I know what you mean but it still pretending but great guy

[@glorygloryholeallelujah]

I dunno. I suspect a few of them pretend to like nutmeg far more than they actually do... to keep their jobs. 😆

[@t.c.bramblett617]

You need to broaden your horizons on here. There are hundreds of good channels. Maybe you are thinking of TikTok. Sorry, I am just tired of people bragging about their ignorance to score cheap points against a massive channel with all kinds of media. I wouldn't brag about how little distance my curiosity has taken me.

[@gerryholden]

Here in North West England there is a famous and popular dish: potted shrimps. Produced exclusively around Morecambe Bay which has prolific shellfish and shrimps, it’s made by the shrimp fishermen who boil the day’s catch in seawater and then pot it with clarified butter with, I think, mace as a flavouring. It’s considered to be quite a gourmet dish.

[@OnlyKaerius]

I hope they don't use the sea water in the harbor, that's usually very polluted.

[@atvbass10]

Man these videos are so refreshing. Perfect for getting away from the madness that goes on in the world.

[@because-strudels]

sometimes life's got a lot of fuss and heartache, but this channel always feels like home. always something fantastic to learn, too! Wonderful hearing these first-hand accounts from letters, journals, etc.

[@agimagi2158]

I am joining the choir of requests for a follow up video that is testing how long the salmon will stay good! Also: Again the cinematography is beautiful!

[@themarkfunction]

recipe: "season them with salt and spices" Townsends: ". . . and nutmeg!"

[@Katesharpandvoice]

I think fill would be great, maybe with some little red potatoes, hot or cold, a little honey or beer mustard.......white wine......

[@sydrose13]

Feafon them with falt and fpices

[@pepre7594]

@@sydrose13 lol, the old s always throws me off

[@yes2463]

@@Katesharpandvoice who the hell had those in the 1800's on hand?

[@thomasblaine3193]

@@yes2463 I would say just about everyone. Those ingredients dont seem that hard to come by.

[@pickeljarsforhillary102]

Jon's blood type is Nutmeg.

[@anasapsana824]

Nutmeg [+] 😀

[@LixiaWinter]

His Zodiac sign too

[@Amanda-kw1vi]

Ha!

[@thejasminedragonmerchant6843]

Also his spirit animal.

[@Cornerstanding]

LOL

[@greekceltic]

These videos are a lot of fun and really inspire me to go draw and explore what I've learned through writing and art. Thank you for sharing!

[@MrSaltenguy]

I've never heard of this. Here in Norway we used to hang both fish and meat in the fresh air until it was completely dry. And then we salted (some do it today also) both fish and meat with an incredible amount of salt. So much salt (and I mean very much) that fish/meat must be put in water for several days before it can be eaten. And many times the water also has to be changed several times before cooking and eating. Vegetables and potatoes were stored unwashed in cold cellars that were buried in the ground some distance from the house. Very rarely there were basements under the house.

[@irwo1]

this is because norway was a wasteland until 50 years ago

[@PeteMacmovies]

I just had some potted salmon at my mum's house yesterday. We still do things like this over here in the UK & I can confirm they are delicious. Next time try leaving a bay leaf on top in the butter : )

[@QuinchGaming]

Yup, potted beef is my favourite.

[@willdbeast1523]

@@QuinchGaming potted beef is the best!

[@PartanBree]

I guess these sorts of things are the forebears of those jars of meat paste you still sometimes get in the the shops - but the originals have got to be tastier!

[@glorygloryholeallelujah]

Oh that’s a great idea!! -Or possibly even some rosemary! (I have a weird addiction to rosemary and butter...but I guess the first step is admitting that I have a problem)!😆❤️

[@jasonandreoli4135]

Potted shrimps from morecambe bag are superb, they have a bit of cayenne and mustard. Delicious

[@ericalbany]

On American grocery shelves you can get Underwood's Deviled Ham- which started out in the 1820's as a potted meat in glass jars

[@loririnaldi3408]

Love that stuff!

[@Lucius1958]

I remember that from our family pantry...

[@catherinekhalili6386]

I love deviled ham

[@ananthropomorphictalkinggo6641]

They make a chicken version of it too. They're both really good.

[@SilntObsvr]

I remember potted meat (may not have been Underwood, might have been Hormel) in jars after I was an adult, say, as late as 1980. Every now and then I'll buy a couple cans of Underwood Deviled Ham, Underwood Potted Roast Beef, and Underwood Chicken Spread. Maybe good, maybe bad, but I'm more likely to buy Spam these days -- much more bad-for-me goodness for my money. You can make your own Spam-alike, too...

[@wwsuwannee7993]

When I was small and my uncles were still young, my Grandfolks lived on a homestead in Washington state. No electricity. They would do something similar with venison or whatever and 5 gallon tins. Layer of lard/layer of fried meat/layer of lard...repeat till full. Whenever you wanted meat, just dig down in the can and get what you need, warm it up in a fry pan and eat. Worked like a charm.

[@warriorfight111]

Year late, but I absolutely love how at 2:10 you use the actual font (or at the very least close to it) and text to accent your piece. Stunning attention to detail and really just above and beyond.

[@dianapovero7319]

I wonder how this would taste in a chowder, thickened with hard tack, with cream & of course seasoned with nutmeg salt & white pepper?

[@VexShiza]

I did not expect the outcome. Getting to see it solidify and complain that salmon so well. I could imagine loads of those made for the winter. It's incredible to see the ingenuity that went into food preservation for the time periods you discuss. Thank you for sharing these forgotten arts that our ancestors used day in and day out. Truly fascinating.

[@Cornerstanding]

Just a pantry full of buttered salmon, YUM!!! that has absolutely got to be the Best!!!!

[@jessicapearson9479]

Actually contrary to what people think. You could only save meat this way for about a month in a cool dry place. Any longer and the fat goes rancid. Which is why he said it would keep for a months. Guess everyone conveniently ignored that bit!

[@BazookaDoe]

@@jessicapearson9479 you're supposed to take out the milk fats. That's what goes rancid. it would last 1 month with the milk fats, but longer with clarified butter.

[@45joejack45]

My mother would always tell me about how they would butcher a hog. Then they would render the lard take the cuttings put them in a barrel cover them with lard they would've eaten throughout the winter months

[@essaboselin5252]

Even wonder where the expression "scraping the bottom of the barrel" came from? The pieces left on the bottom at the end of winter were fairly rank.

[@itsokaytobeclownpilled5937]

Where did your mom grow up?

[@LycanFerret]

@@essaboselin5252 Well yeah, rendered fat can only preserve for so long. It'll keep bacteria out, but it will begin to age. I make my own lard and it stores for up to a year, and I leave pork in the fridge for a few weeks stored airtight. Doesn't get access to bacteria, but it does age and begins to smell. Similar to Surstromming. If left for longer the proteins might ferment.

[@BlutigeTranen]

We used to make potted foods at the farmstead. Specifically I remember having the Boy Scouts in my troop visit. We did this, we made butter with a hand churn and ended the day making ice cream!

[@aaronyongming2933]

I am obsessed with all kinds of preserved food/ ingredients. The flavours are one of its kind.

[@freedpeeb]

In the pioneer days butter was heavily salted, worked over several days to get it really dry, and pressed into crocks before being covered in a thick layer of salt. It was hard to keep it from taking on flavours though. I have always been intrigued by potted meats. Thank you for this!

[@debketelsen3742]

A home care client of mine told me about preserving pork. They rendered the lard and pored it into jars with lids. They also cooked thin to medium pork steaks to just done and put 2 or 3 slices in some of the jars . The hot liquid lard was pored into the jar covering the meat by at least 2 inches and lids were added. The jars were marked and put into the deepest part of the root cellar. They pulled them out only when they needed meat during the lean months and used the lard for normal cooking. They tried to preserve enough meat and lard for a month until they could butcher another hog

[@debketelsen3742]

@fred McMurray I am sure they did more than one. He was num 6 of 11 kids. I just phrased it incorrectly.

[@محمدالزعبي-ن9ظ]

I wouldn't mind watching Jon making pottery for hours

[@candidegunn3624]

In Ireland and Scotland they are still finding barrels of butter that were buried in the peat bogs from a thousand years ago and it is still good. Butter does not even need to be refrigerated, it can sit on the counter for months as long as it is not too hot in your house and you only use a clean knife every time you take some out. As long as you don't contaminate it, it stays good.

[@teeheeteeheeish]

Your production quality is getting better each episode! I’m glad your channel is doing well. Best wishes from your fellow Hoosier ☺️

[@Cadwaladr]

I don't know about potted butter, but in Bronze Age Ireland, they preserved butter by burying it in a peat bog. We know this because nowadays people are cutting that peat for fuel, and sometimes they find butter, and after thousands of years, it's still edible.

[@cecilyerker]

I want to eat the thousand year old forbidden Kerrygold Irish butter 🍀🧈

[@yes0r787]

Legendary ancient immortal butter.

[@kittythecat1839]

They could have also put it there as an offering

[@jeil5676]

My Scottish Grandma used to make a dish called Potted Hough and it was beef potted in a gelatin and really good. The beef wasnt minced it was like pot roast and kind of stringy like pulled pork and that texture still worked great potted.

[@northernembersoutdoors1045]

Potted salmon with nutmeg... very interesting..

[@MaltAndPepper]

Potted shrimp really rely on mace and/or nutmeg, amazed it's not this dish!

[@andrewthomson]

@@MaltAndPepper mace and nutmeg are just two different parts of the same seed so I wonder if they're interchangeable in these recipes

[@spacetexan8695]

@@andrewthomson very interesting 🤔 wish I could afford to experiment!

[@MaltAndPepper]

@@andrewthomson yes, I know, I like both. They have some similarities but have a taste of their own.

[@FreddyBarbarossa]

@@spacetexan8695 Try it with a cheap white fish if you can't get salmon and tell us how it turns out!

[@Zinc876]

I'm so glad one of your videos got to me in my recommendations. It's really cool to see these older techniques.

[@SS-hw9vu]

There are references in British literature to people having cold beef. I've always wondered how they stored it - if they just set it in the pantry as is for the next day or what they did. Do you think they would have done this or something like it for meat in general?

[@akimbofurry2179]

Perhaps

[@williamrosenbloom215]

It's also possible they meant what we would today call "cold cuts". Eg cooked then chilled or brined

[@katashley1031]

Sometimes that meant a cooked meat pie that kept well in cool pantries. They'd eat a slice cold as a meal anytime, or take a slice wrapped in a bit of cloth to go out with.

[@streetcop157]

My papaw used to keep a crock of sausages.....he would precook patties and layer them in the crock and cover them with lard then top the crock with lard. Then when he made breakfast he would scoop out what he needed and heat it up then pour the hot fat back in the crock to reseal it. Not sure how long it would keep that way but I will always remember him doing this

[@saguaro2231]

Street, where was this?..Very interesting; I'd like to have had a papaw like that

[@streetcop157]

@@saguaro2231 eastern Kentucky....he was a hoot. Grew his own chewing tobacco, sold worms for whiskey money, plowed with a mule and had a screwdriver in the silverware drawer for getting the meat out of a stewed hogshead.....

[@kuramacon]

Things were just so labor intensive back then. I'm sure preservation options like this were a god sent.

[@rotolotto]

Thank you for preserving our history, Jon. I think a lot of people really don't care about history but it's very valuable and those of us thirsty for knowledge or curious about the past deserve to know these things and certainly appreciate our nutmeg loving Uncle Jon!

[@fractode]

Aw, you did it AGAIN! I could swear I could taste this...I imagined a slice of sourdough (lightly toasted by the fire, of course) and either a steaming cup of hot tea, or cold glass of white wine, depending on time of day...YUM!

[@daz6637]

What a coincidence! Today I took my family to Beaulieu in Hampshire UK🇬🇧, where the Duke of Montague is originally from. I was looking at his painting today on the wall of his family’s stately house. Anyway! On with the potted goods😀

[@texlahomagirl9809]

Keep cranking those videos out. We need you now, more than ever ❗

[@skepticalmom2948]

This is like the pork and trout rillettes we learned to make in culinary school.

[@jacquelinebird8624]

what type of pottery pot did you use?

[@skepticalmom2948]

@@jacquelinebird8624 , ramekin. We made the rilletes for the restaurant attached to the school. They never aged, just used immediately with the scratch crackers and baguettes.

[@Rhewin]

I've noticed the last couple of years you seem to be very interested in the craft of the time (the canoe, the cabin, the pot here). It's interesting to see this channel expand out from food to the full lifestyle!

[@JohnnyZ716]

I so love this channel. Just makes me feel good. I can't describe it. Soothing in a way. Brings you back to much simpler days. I would have liked to live back then. IF anything for like a vacation for a month or so. Wish there was a time machine LoL

[@krucdfumv]

as a ceramic artist i love that people sare discovering the historical usage for pots, i feel that to much focus in school is on making , but not the historical significance of the pots or cups and where they came form.

[@AdarBlu]

This sounds to me like a variation on confit, but instead of using rendered meat fat it uses butter.

[@stevenej9894]

Basically, this is rillettes de saumon- not uncommonly served at French dinner parties to this day

[@metrofarmer913]

John I swear you're a Renaissance man. You do so many diverse things. Always enjoy watching

[@VashGames]

Tuna in oil, make way for salmon in clarified butter.

[@Fernando-jy6gq]

Interesting thought.

[@adiosepic1829]

This video blew my mind. Thank you SO much.

[@nomad8723]

So potting is basically sticking cooked food in a can of Crisco. I'm with it.

[@rainydaylady6596]

Lol I was thinking of Crisco while he was spreading the butter in the pot. Not sure if I want to spread Crisco and salmon on a wheat thin though. 😁🖖💕

[@peachesandcream8753]

No, crisco isn't butter.

[@humblehalfacre8464]

NOT Crisco.... it's poison....made as a machine lubricating oil. Use real animal fat!

[@Cornerstanding]

Don't forget to stick a candle wic in it. Fermented fish scented candle,😅😆😂 LOL!!!! Yummy!!!

[@rainydaylady6596]

@@Cornerstanding 🤣😂🤣😂🤣 Another reason to be glad I can't smell. Lol

[@arose4u2]

the pottery wheel makes it look easy, but that is not easy to do without a lot of experience!

[@31337ification]

To pot butter you essentially salt it (with brine) then remove all excess moisture (very heavy rolling pin) twice. On the second rolling add dry salt. Then pack it in very tightly (no air gaps) and salt the top heavily (2 inches thick). When you go to use it you need to re-hydrate it (also it going to be very salty to the taste)

[@Katesharpandvoice]

I found canned butter from Vietnam at the Asian grocery store.........I almost bought it. I'm going to use my French butter bell instead. The butter keeps a really long time, if I don't eat it.......

[@scrambl3dmegs]

Okay, LOVING the pottery portion at the beginning. I wasn't aware you did this! So thankful for this channel

[@debrabrooks6138]

I have been cooking from scratch, oh most of my life and grew up on a Dutch / Mennonite farm and now that I am older living in the city I like making my own meat spreads a lot and have really liked what I call liver paste and basically beef paste, I suppose it's a lot like you have made there, I am guessing the butter keeps the air from getting in and spoiling anything which sounds good, I happen to like a lot of butter on my fish. So I might try that with fish. I am curious you said clarified butter, so seasoned butter like a garlic butter or fennel butter wouldn't work? Oh I have been wondering, when was the use of spring houses came about? and dirt /mud / clay root cellars? I have seen farms here that have had both and from what the people say ..had them for at least 100 yrs. ? So I am just curious. weren't spring houses used in the 18'th century to store meats?

[@deacont3250]

This was so wonderful to see! I actually did this same thing with my kids this year as part of our history classwork.

[@Khunark]

Did they taste well?

[@sittingduck4771]

The things I've learned about the 18th century trough this channel alone is incredible tbh! Btw, I'm not a big fish eater but that salmon looked so good.

[@tankolad]

This video is exactly what I needed right now

[@joejones551]

Absolutely love your videos, thanks for this "snapshot" of the past.

[@Itsmekimmyjo]

I’ve been watching your videos for years... I just gotta say you’re still my favorite person on KZbin. I’m always learning something odd or laughing at the quips. Just lovely ♥️thanks so much

[@tamick21]

Each video is produced with love and a ton and i mean a ton of work. I appreciate the work this channel does. Thank you!

[@ravenwolf7128]

I'm trying this--that salmon looked so tender and delicious! I plan to add some finely chopped fresh herbs. I bet it would be better to pot salmon as described than freezing fresh salmon. Store the pottage in the fridge--might last just as long as frozen and taste better.

[@natsune09]

20th Century: Butter is so fattening. 18th Century: Hold my flagon of ale!

[@oxnyxws]

The lack of central heating made up for the fattening these people are probably bringing through twice as many calories as we were lying down because they just didn't have central heating to keep their houses warm.

[@johnree6106]

@@oxnyxws Why you need central heating

[@Soy_Sauce_Supreme]

You needed the calories in the 17th century.

[@natsune09]

Clearly the joke went over a couple heads.

[@faroukabad]

they did a lot more physical labor back then, probably burned off all the fat right away.

[@toddshook1765]

All the preservation techniques you show are fascinating. Seeing the beginning of how food was preserved will help me have the knowledge so I can better survive without modern conveniences.

[@PapaTaurean]

I love seeing history in action. This is a great series and I can't wait to try these recipes

[@davidashmore3929]

The gang have a nutmeg intervention for John and take over Friday's show.

[@johnrobinson4259]

It would be really cool to see how salt was used to preserve food and enhance recipes during colonial times! Where I’m from in Syracuse, NY there used to be a major salt industry dating before the revolutionary war and it lasted until the industrial revolution. The way salt has been incorporated into local recipes and specific dishes is incredibly fascinating! There is also a lot of colonial history!

[@essaboselin5252]

One of the early videos he did shows you how to make salt pork.

[@johnrobinson4259]

@@essaboselin5252 Yeah he’s done potting quite a few times aswell.

[@tvv9697]

I'll bet that "potted butter" is the same as ghee.

[@MyMusicHarbourage]

Woah, someone's definitely been to India lol.

[@dottore3870]

Yep, pretty much the stuff.

[@cain3576]

Clarified butter is a bit different to ghee.

[@Whatsup_Abroad]

pretty much. Clarified butter is just ghee without the browning of the milk solids. Ghee is actually a little easier to make since you can just cook it until all the water in it is evaporated which eliminates the separation step entirely. I'm a bit lazy so I prefer making ghee.

[@untermench3502]

My mother's parents lived the old way. Each Fall they would butcher a Hog and my Grandmother would make dozens of pork pies to keep in the pantry. They didn't have a refrigerator, the pantry on the North side of the house served the purpose. When she cooked the ground pork for the pies, she would skim off the fat, some of which she saved for cooking or making soap, but the rest she would pot-up and cover with wax paper to keep from going rancid. It contained the bits of pork, gelatin and a layer of fat. I loved it. we would spread it on toast or bread, like modern folks use butter. Fond memories of the way people used to live without all the modern conveniences.

[@rapmastac1362]

I just found your channel through a throwaway comment by Tasting History with Max Miller, and I have been enjoying it very much. I like your film setting and the seemingly natural lighting which goes a long way in setting a scene. While I do like Max's deepish dive into the history of what he is presenting, I really like your setup and how I feel like I'm not only learning about the history of cooking, but taking in the beautiful setup of your filming area. I enjoy Lego more than I do cooking most times, so I pay close attention to the scene I'm trying to set when telling my story, and you do a very good job at that. Thank you for the content you have been providing! I was a GM of a fine dining restaurant with a waterfall wall in the middle of the restaurant. I put a lot of attention into the details of the table setups and decorations. Setting the scene so to speak is just as important as the main act, and your attention to detail (whether intentional or not) goes a long way.

[@kittynamedbunny3936]

I wonder how much nutmeg Jon added into the clay 🤔 seems like something he would do 😉

[@LJAndrews1986]

You assume the clay isn't pure nutmeg? BLASPHEMY

[@rainydaylady6596]

🤣😂🤣💕