Until lately, man had done little more in preserving his food in a fresh condition, than the squirrels which gather and store their nuts and seeds in a warm, dry place. To be sure, he knew how to dry and smoke, and the uses of salt and sugar. He had even tried to preserve his meats and fruits in a fresh state; but his rude methods hardly foreshadowed the splendid results which have recently been achieved in the line of canned goods.

M. Appert, of France, first patented (in 1810) a process for preserving animal and vegetable substances in close vessels of glass—after subjecting them to the action of heat—and an English firm soon after introduced provisions preserved in tin. But it was reserved for Americans to lead the world, not only in the magnitude of their canning industries, but also in the art of preserving meats, vegetables, and fruits, by processes so delicate and effective, as to retain their original shape and texture, as well as their freshness and flavor. And, moreover, while they have practically prolonged the “Seasons” for perishable food products throughout the entire year, and furnish them for the consumer at very reasonable rates, the producer has often thanked them for giving stability to prices in seasons of great “Gluts” and abundance.

Varieties of Canned Goods.

Among canned goods, in glass or tin packages of various sizes, qualities and prices, are the following:

Canned Meats.

Corned beef, boiled; ROAST BEEF, BEEF A LA MODE, BOILED HAM, BOILED TONGUE, ROAST MUTTON, ROAST VEAL, ROAST CHICKEN, ROAST TURKEY, BRAWN, POTTED MEATS of all kinds; GAME PATES of WILD DUCK, GROUSE, PARTRIDGE, PLOVER, WOODCOCK; BONED TURKEY AND CHICKEN, with jelly; CURRIED CHICKEN, DEVILLED CHICKEN, TURKEY, HAM, PIG’S FEET, LAMB’S TONGUES, etc.

Canned Soups and Broths.

Beef, CHICKEN, GREEN TURTLE, OXTAIL, JULIENNE, MOCK TURTLE, CONSOMME, MACCARONI, VERMICELLI, PEA, MUTTON BROTH, etc.

Fish.

Clams, CLAM CHOWDER, ANCHOVIES, CRABS FRESH, CRABS DEVILLED, CODFISH BALLS, MACKEREL FRESH, LOBSTER, OYSTERS, PRAWNS, SHRIMP, SALMON, SARDINES, TROUT, TURTLE, KIPPERED HERRING, BLOATERS, etc.

Asparagus, Baked, Lima, and String BEANS, GREEN CORN, MUSHROOMS, OKRA, ONIONS, PEAS, PUMPKIN, SQUASH, SUCCOTASH, SPINACH, RHUBARB, etc.

Canned Fruits.

Apples, APRICOTS, BLACKBERRIES, BLUEBERRIES, CHERRIES, GRAPES, GOOSEBERRIES, PEACHES, PEARS, PLUMS, PINEAPPLES, QUINCES, RASPBERRIES, STRAWBERRIES, etc.

Canned Sundries.

Besides the above, there are “Heaps” of canned delicacies, such, for instance, as TRUFFLES, TRUFFLE PATES, TRUFFLE DU PERIGORD, in tins and glass, PLUM PUDDINGS, PLUM PUDDING SAUCES, etc.

Some of the French vegetables in glass and tin are beautifully green in appearance, but it is evident that they are artificially colored. A more wholesome device is to put the articles up in the intensely green bottles sometimes seen.

The Tin Cans.—Tin is mainly used for canned goods, and is the least objectionable of all the metals, and better than anything probably, except glass. It does not oxidize easily, and if it does, its soluble salts are less injurious than those of any other available metal.

Jellies, Preserves, etc.

Jellies are made from nearly all the fruits by mixing their juices with sugar, and often with gelatine or isinglass, (four parts of which will convert 100 parts of water into a tremulous jelly) and boiling them down. Jellies are wholesome, cooling, and grateful, provided they are free from adulterations and noxious colorings, and are much used upon the tea table and in the sick room. Among the varieties of jelly in the market are APPLE, CRAB APPLE, BLACKBERRY, CURRANT, GRAPE, LEMON, GUAVA, ORANGE, QUINCE, RASPBERRY, STRAWBERRY, etc. They come in tumblers and jars, and in bulk. There are also CALVES’ FOOT, WINE and SPIRIT jellies.

Preserves.—All the above fruits are preserved in sugar, and put up in quart and pint jars. Cherries, PEACHES, PEARS, etc., are also preserved in BRANDY, and sold in glass jars. There is also a great variety of JAMS and MARMALADES, both foreign and domestic; GINGER ROOT, boiled in syrup, etc. Fruit butter is made from various fruits, as, Apple, Cranberry, Peach, Pear, or Raspberry, etc., by stewing them in sugar or molasses. It is usually sold from pails by the pound, and is much used in some sections.

Flavoring Extracts and Essences.

The delicate flavors of fruit and the fragrant principles of spice and other substances, as vanilla, etc., are extracted by pressure or distillation, and dissolved in spirits of wine for culinary purposes. It is found also, that certain ethers and oils may be so combined (as, for instance, potato oil) as to yield the taste and smell of many fruits, such as pears, apples, grapes, pineapples, etc. Flavoring extracts and essences are variously put up in vials and bottles; among them are LEMON, VANILLA, ROSE, ALMOND, PEACH, CELERY, GINGER, CLOVES, NUTMEG, STRAWBERRY, RASPBERRY, PINEAPPLE, NECTARINE, etc.

Isinglass and gelatine are used to make jellies, and thicken soups and gravies. Isinglass is made from the intestines of fish. Its advantages over gelatine are lighter color, less flavor, and greater thickening power. In cold water it softens, swells, becomes white and opaque. In hot water it smells a little fishy. Gelatine is made from the bones of animals; it also swells in cold water, but becomes glassy and transparent, while in hot water it has somewhat the smell of glue. It is often sold for isinglass. The test of both is in the fineness and clearness of their jelly. Calves’ foot jelly is delicate, but less firm. Gelatine is sold in sheets and shreds.

Herbs for seasoning, as, SAGE, SUMMER SAVORY, SWEET MARJORAM, THYME, etc., are sold in the leaf, and also powdered, in tins and paper packets.

Spices and Condiments.

Spices are generally understood to be more aromatic and fragrant and less pungent than what are called condiments. Spices are usually added to sweetened food, while condiments, as pepper and mustard, are better suited to meats and food containing salt.

It is impossible to supply genuine articles if the public are not willing to pay for them, and it may be accepted as a general rule, that the lower the price of ground spices and condiments, the more they are adulterated. The materials chiefly used for this purpose are starch, cracker dust and similar harmless substances, and the mixture usually contains as much of the pure material as can reasonably be afforded at the price it sells for. The purchaser may elect whether he will have such articles, or those which are genuine at a higher cost. The grocer does not create wants and demands; he merely supplies them.

Pepper.—There are two kinds, black and white. Both are from the seeds of the piper nigrum, a plant which grows in the East and West Indies. Black pepper is the seed picked before it is fully ripe, dried and ground. White pepper is made from the ripened seed deprived of its black outer shell or pericarp. Pepper is an agreeable addition to many kinds of food, and is said to promote the secretion of the gastric juice; it is more used than any other spice.

Cayenne pepper is the powdered pod of one or more species of capsicum. The sharp taste is due to a camphor like substance found more in the pods than in the seeds.

Mustard.—This is the flour of the black or white mustard seed. The black seed contains most volatile oil, is more pungent, and differs from the white in chemical composition. The two are blended in various proportions. Wheat flour is often added, with a little turmeric to bring up the color. Mustard seed contains over 30 per cent. of a fixed oil, and a portion of this is often extracted. This practice is considered beneficial rather than fraudulent.

Ginger.—This is the root-stalk of a plant which grows in Jamaica and other warm countries. The best comes with the skin scraped off. This is ground. The odor of ginger is due to an essential oil; its pungency to a peculiar resin. It is sometimes adulterated with starch, sago, rice, and wheat flour, mustard hulls, cayenne pepper, etc. But, as with all the other spices, there are pure brands.

Cloves are the dried flower buds of the clove tree. They come from the East Indies, Africa, and South America, ranking in value in the order named. The best contain as much as 16 per cent. of a volatile oil to which their flavor is due. Ground cloves have sometimes a portion of this oil pressed out, with pimento or allspice added, which latter is much less costly. Cloves are best when large, plump, bright in tint, and full of oil, which exudes on pressure with the finger nail.

Allspice or pimento is the little, round berry of an evergreen tree, common in the West Indies. It contains about 4 per cent. of an aromatic oil. Owing to its cheapness, it is less adulterated than other spices.

Cinnamon is the true bark of a small evergreen tree of Ceylon. The best is very thin, the outer and inner coats of the bark having been removed.

Cassia is the bark of another species of cinnamon tree; it is thicker, corky, and not so red. It is cheap and not much adulterated. It is often sold for cinnamon, but is less aromatic and valuable. Cassia buds are the unripe buds of the same tree.

Nutmegs and Mace.—Nutmegs are the seeds of the Myristica Fragrans, a tree which grows in the East Indies. Good nutmegs feel heavy in the hand, and are not worm eaten. They contain about 8 per cent. of volatile oil, and 25 per cent. of fixed oil, which exudes under indentation or pressure with the finger nail. Most people buy whole nutmegs and the ground article has only a limited sale. Mace is the arillus or coating of the nutmeg, and is also sold whole or unground.

Curry Powder.—This compound of spices, etc., is much used in India and other hot countries, as an appetizer and stimulant to digestion. There are several excellent brands of curry powder in market, both English and American, made approximately after some one of the following five receipts:

	Proportions.
Turmeric	6	4	6	3	2
Black pepper	5	4	2	2	1/2
Cayenne	1	1	0	3/4	6
Ginger	0	2	3	0	1/2
Fenugreek	3	2	0	1	1/2
Cummin seed	3	2	2	4	0
Coriander seed	0	6	8	12	6
Cardamom seed	0	0	1/2	1/2	0
Pimento	0	0	1/2	1/4	1/4
Cinnamon	0	0	0	1/4	1/4
Cloves	0	0	0	1/4	1
Nutmeg	0	0	0	0	1/2

Salt.

Common Salt varies in purity and sometimes contains salts of lime, magnesia, and potash. But as those are more soluble in water than common salt, it is easy to remove them in the process of manufacture. Our culinary salt comes from several sources; rock salt deposits or mines, sea water, and salt springs.

There are numerous brands of salt which are freed from all impurity, ground to various degrees of fineness, and put up in barrels, sacks, bags and packets of all sizes; also in stone jars.

Celery salt is good common salt mingled with the finely ground seeds of celery.

Besides the finer qualities for table use, there are varieties specially adapted for salting and pickling meats, fish, etc.; lump rock salt for cattle, hay salt, etc. The bitter salts of lime, magnesia, etc., attract moisture more than common salt, hence dryness is a sign of purity.

Vinegar.

The sour principle is acetic acid, of which good vinegar contains about four per cent. Vinegar may be obtained by fermentation from the juice of any starchy or sweet fruit or vegetable, from beer, or even from sweetened water, to which “mother” or other vinegar is added. Cider vinegar is most used, as it retains the fruity flavor of the apple, but good vinegar is also made from wine, malt, oranges, raspberries, etc. There are many varieties in market, both domestic and foreign. Stringent laws regulate the purity and strength of vinegar for domestic uses, in New York and some other states.

Pickles.

These are fruits and vegetables preserved in vinegar, after first steeping them in brine. Certain articles require to be pickled in scalding hot vinegar, others with cold; salt, pepper and spices are added to suit the taste. Pickles were formerly extensively colored green with copper, but the ghastly practice has gone out of date. Intelligent people will prefer those which have the more natural and wholesome yellowish, olive green tint. There are all sorts of pickles in market, put up in glass or wood packages of various sizes, as follows:

Cucumbers and GHERKINS, CHOW CHOW, CAULIFLOWER, ONIONS, MANGOES, PICALILLI, WALNUTS, PEPPERS, HORSERADISH, MIXED PICKLES, and SWEET PICKLES. Among the best of imported pickles are the reliable Cross and Blackwell goods; some domestic brands are perhaps equally good. Olives are in brine, usually in wide-mouthed glass jars. They come from Italy, Spain, and France. The “Queen,” “Crescent,” etc., are favorite brands. There are also French CAPERS, so important as an accompaniment for boiled mutton, etc.

Salad oil.—The best is the oil of the OLIVE, which, when pure, is of pale, greenish yellow tint, with an agreeable odor and taste. Refined Cottonseed oil has naturally a more reddish tint. It is extensively sold as olive oil or mixed with it, although many grocers keep the genuine olive oil. Salad dressings are also in market, some of which are very fine and delicate.

Sauces.

These articles give zest to food and stimulate digestion. Their composition is very varied and embraces many fruits and vegetables, as the tomato, walnut, garlic, shallot; many herbs, as tarragon, chervill, mint, thyme, marjoram; many condiments, as cayenne, black pepper, mustard, and all the spices; many fish, as lobsters, oysters, clams, shrimp, anchovies; the juices of meat, besides salt, sugar, molasses, etc.

Pepper sauce is made from the little Jamaica peppers, the Mexican, Chili pepper, or some other variety of red or green pepper. There are numerous brands, and nearly all are good. The TABASCO PEPPER SAUCE is excellent. Tomato catsup or ketchup is a very wholesome and agreeable addition to the diet. Among the best and most popular varieties is the “SHREWSBURY” TOMATO KETCHUP. Mushroom and Walnut Catsups are less used, but still have many friends.

Among the dainty and well known SAUCES, are the WORCESTERSHIRE, LEICESTERSHIRE, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, SULTANA, PICCADILLY, CHUTNEE, SOHO, HARVEY, NORTH OF ENGLAND, etc. There are also various American sauces, some of which are imitations of the above or very similar in composition and flavor. Some of the English sauces are put up in elegant and artistic vases.