Drying food to ward off bacterial and fungal deterioration is likely one of the oldest methods of food preservation. Coincidentally, this approach populates one of my earliest childhood memories. My grandfather, a tenant farmer, augmented the family’s food stores by fishing in the Chowan River. During those times, the spring herring populations were so numerous that the creeks boiled with the multitude of frenetic spawning fish making their pilgrimage back to their ancestral birthplace. This was an incredible time of abundance for gathering protein to tide families over the seasons when food was not so abundant. Because my grandparents had no means of freezing or refrigeration, one of the preservation methods was drying the fish. As a youngster, I remember images of dried herring strung in the barn on twine and small bamboo or reed poles. Too young to realize, this novel aquatic menagerie was a significant factor in my nutrient uptake.
The success of drying foods of any kind requires the removal of moisture to form an uninhabitable environment for bacteria and fungi. Even now I marvel at the fact that fresh fish spoil so quickly that successfully drying to preserve them is almost miraculous. Of course, fishes are just one example of foods that can be dried. Long ago fruits were among the first foods to be popular candidates for drying; dates, grapes aka raisins, and plums also known as prunes harken back to early civilizations. These methods of preserving harvest bounty continue today. In South Korea, I remember marveling at a sea of blue tarps along the rural roads and fields spread with drying chili peppers and bouquets of garlic plants hanging on the porches of every village house. Not only does this approach retard spoilage but it reduces weight allowing for easier storage and travel. The benefits of drying foods extend to retaining a substantial percentage of the original nutritive value of fresh foods. Vitamin C is typically the hardest hit component by losing up to half of its content. Other values are concentrated per volume, for example sugars and carbohydrates are increased. Fiber is unaffected. Beans and legumes are excellent examples of this fact. Some foods are eaten in their dried state and others are rehydrated by soaking to lend a more palatable experience. Even though almost all foods are best eaten and enjoyed in their fresh state, dried foods have extended our food availability and have aided survival to many generations before us and, in some parts of the globe, continue to sustain our contemporaries.
