Customer Reviews

Pickles and Preserves

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I think this is a terrific book, but as one can tell from the negative review, it is not for a new cook, or for someone who needs to have things spelled out to be comfortable. My mom (86) has had this book since the '50's and has had lots of fun trying things like conserve of roses, stringbean pickles,figs in wine jelly, guava paste,dewberry jelly, lots of wonderful tomato pickles and so on as well as more familiar things.

It is a book of recipes, for sure. Most of them handed down from Southern cooks. In fact, there are very informative and explicit general instructions about preserving and pickling in the front of the book. While I am not such an experienced "preserver' myself and have struggled with instructions such as "Cucumbers that have been brined by long fermentation" as an ingredient in "Sour Pickles" for example, I have also enjoyed finding her instructions on how to make them elsewhere in the book.I think it is a matter of structure, more than anything that we are not used to. Most jams, jellies and preserves follow basic principles with just a little tweaking depending on the ingredients or the result wanted. This book is organized like that. I have found the instructions work very well for me.

It is not the only preserving book in the world and is not really meant to be, but it is really marvelous in covering a wide range of possibilities. And it is a wonderful way of holding on to some traditions that are slipping through our grasp as well as our imaginations as things are made more simple and spelled out. As we have come to trust ourselves less and are more interested in product over process.

I think what is important is to think about what kind of a cook you are, or want to be. The book was written at a time when people grew up more familiar with these procedures than we are today. People were perhaps also a bit more used to learning by doing than having everything spelled out for them. I don't mean this as a criticism of those of us who want to be perfect the first time out, just a warning, that this book is more casual than that and therefore is probably not the book for you.........unless, of course, you want to jump into the enormous pickling vat and mess around!

I recommend this book highly because it is very interesting to put oneself back in the kitchens of those who really did need and enjoy preserving their food. There are some new-to-most-of-us ideas and also, if one uses the book in the right spirit, one can really enjoy the process as well as the results!

I'm so happy this book has been re-issued! I have my mother's copy of the original 1955 edition and it was her Bible in the Fall when the garden started yielding more produce than we could consume (and there were 10 of us!) What makes this cookbook particularly enjoyable is the variety of strange and fascinating recipes. Some are quick and easy to be made in small batches. A few are labeled "Career Girl" recipes and are made from frozen fruits and vegetables so busy "career girls" (a popular term in the 50s) could hurry home from their "girl Friday" jobs and whip up a batch of salad pickles that tasted like she had slaved in the kitchen for hours.

I love some of the very old-fashioned sounding chapters. Crystallized Fruits & Flowers has detailed instructions for crystallizing everything from strawberries to violets and tons of recipes including Honey & Rose-Petal Preserves and Glacéd Wine Figs. There is a chapter on Conserves, which I happen to be partial to, including Rhubarb (Pie Plant) Conserve and Red Beet Conserve. The rather lengthy Meats and Sea Food chapter includes all Venison Mincemeat, Pickled Oysters, instructions for brining, corning, and pickling meat, a variety of meat pastes, sausages and scrapples and "Easy Brined Shrimp".

Marion Brown's section on Preserves is testimony to the fact that early cooks could figure out a way to preserve darn near anything and includes quaint recipes like Sun-Cooked Strawberry Preserves, Pumpkin Chips, and Cantalope Preserves.

Perhaps the most unique recipe in the book is one she copied from a fifteenth century cookbook for "Peris in Syrippe and Wyne", She adds 2 interpretations of that, her own and a variation by a friend which adds orange slices. I love the idea of adding saffron.

I recently published a cookbook of my own (Fry Bacon. Add Onions: The Valentine Family & Friends Cookbook nd glancing through the section on Preserves I'm sure many of those recipes evolved from Marion Brown's cookbook. This is a highly readable treasure!

I'm glad this is the first review of this book. It probably means that not too many have been sold. That's a good thing!
I guess this is intended to be more of a history book of canning rather than a practical guide. The receipes are interesting, but then you get these useless instructions to pack in sterilized jars and seal.
There are no instructions for sealing! Should it be 15 minutes in a boiling water bath? or 10 minutes in a pressure canner at 10 lbs or 15 lbs? Oh, maybe we should use paraffin or rubber rings.
Basically, this is a charming book about preserving, but is not intended for practical use.