If you are a fan of pickled mussels or the olives of your town, you have won heaven. The pleasure to the palate caused by the simple fact of savoring one of these delicacies has an indescribable level. Of course, we haven’t always had aluminum cans or glass jars protecting these foods or serving them on a platter at the corner supermarket or our fetish grocery store.
Preserving food in oil, vinegar and salt is one of the oldest food preservation practices in the history of mankind. The Romans, for example, were crazy about salt. They used it for everything, even to make food last longer in good condition. For example, the word “salary” derives from the enormous use of salt by the Romans, even becoming a form of payment or salarium.
Differences between pickled and pickled
But here we are not to talk about the ancient Roman Empire, but to know what are the key aspects that we must look at to choose healthy preserves. Within the wide range of preserves that we find in the supermarket, two groups stand out that have a certain healthy interest: canned vegetables and canned fish.
Precisely, there are some antagonistic terms referring to these preserves, such as “pickled” and “escabeche”. According to him CAE (Spanish Food Code): pickles are those vegetable foods subjected to the action of vinegar, salt or sugar. On the other hand, the concept “escabeche” refers to foods of animal origin that have been subjected to the action of vinegar, salt and other condiments. In this sense, we see that both definitions come to say the same thing, only that the marinade is used in foods of animal origin such as mussels or tuna, and pickles for gherkins or olives. Curious, to say the least. Have you ever thought about it?
Sunflower oil or olive oil?
In addition to vinegar, another star ingredient in preserves is oil. Both sunflower oil and olive oil are normally used to accompany canned vegetables. It also happens in canned fish, being a common practice in the mythical cans of tuna.
What is healthier, a can of tuna in sunflower oil, or in olive oil? Certainly, olive oil is a healthier raw material, since it contains a higher proportion of monounsaturated fatty acids like oleic acid. This does not mean that sunflower oil is harmful, but it is true that we cannot consider it on the same level as olive oil. For this reason, a preserve soaked in olive oil will always be preferable to that in sunflower oil. In this sense, canned fish are a perfect complement to the usual diet since they naturally provide interesting amounts of Omega-3 fatty acids that are essential for human health. However, they should not be our only source of fish in the diet: fresh fish should always be prioritized.
What does naturally mean?
On the other hand, in the labeling of preserves we also usually find the term “natural” or “natural”. What does this mean? It means that the liquid that accompanies the preserve in question only contains water, salt and some antioxidant at most: they have no added oil or vinegar.
In this way, natural preserves are always going to be healthier, whether they are vegetables or fish. The reason is that they do not add additional calories to the food, which, although they are not the most important, can make a difference in a more recurrent consumption in the diet. Especially if they come from uninteresting ingredients such as sugars or refined oils. On the other hand, both oil and vinegar have flavors that are highly appreciated by most consumers: they provide unique organoleptic nuances to the food. However, it is also true that they do not allow us to enjoy the authentic flavor of food, which is a negative point that we must also take into account.
In summary: if we want to consume healthy preserves we must look for them to be natural. It is also important that they do not contain large amounts of added vinegar, refined oils, salt or sugar. And if they have oil, it better be olive. This general advice applies to both typical canned fish or shellfish and vegetables.
The technological fantasy behind preserves
As you well know, preserves are one of the most durable food products on the market: their shelf life can be extended for several years without problems. But how on earth do you get this long duration? Far from being black magicthe preserves are subjected to a well-studied and perfected technological process for years: sterilization.
Sterilizing consists of subjecting food to temperatures above 100ºC in order to prolong its duration or useful life. At these high temperatures, the destruction of altering and pathogenic microorganisms is achieved, which can spoil the food and cause undesirable organoleptic changes. In addition, some natural deterioration processes that food suffers and that are mediated by enzymes, proteins that perform a specific function in the body, are also slowed down. For example, the browning reactions of fruits and vegetables are known as enzymatic browning, and they take place through the action of the enzyme polyphenol oxidase. Well, thanks to the heat this enzyme is inactivated and the vegetables last longer in good conditions.
As if that were not enough, together with the use of heat in the preserves, a absence of oxygen inside the container servile. This causes the interior of the preserve to be an inert environment, where aerobic microorganisms that depend on the presence of oxygen cannot develop. Additionally, fatty acid rancidity or oxidation reactions do not take place either, since oxygen is not invited to the party.
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