This past Sunday I attended my first Culinarium Preserving class with Master Food Preserver Betsy Aziz. We’ve held several classes this season but events was Jacalyn’s domain so I did not participate in the past workshops. With Jacalyn off to pursue her dietetic internship, that leaves me to support the classes. I had a great time! Betsy has such a calm way about her and shares copious amounts of her canning, preserving and pickling knowledge.
Back in April when we mapped out our preserving classes for the year I had one requirement. I wanted folks to leave with full confidence that they could safely can in their own kitchens. I wanted to take away the fear associated with preserving and thereby make room for the fun. There are loads of other canning and preserving classes out there, many of them demonstration based, which as a tactile and visual learner I’ve never found to be helpful, entertaining yes, but true skill builders no.
I am thrilled to say that Betsy shares in our vision and has achieved it. It was amazing for me to watch our pickling participants (4 canning virgins and 2 have-some-experience-but-not-a-tonne ) progress through Betsy’s class. When they first donned their aprons and moved to their cooking stations there was tension and uncertainty lingering in the air. Then the chopping began. Their bodies relaxed a little, they were familiar with this activity but you could see the nervousness lingering in their eyes …they knew a hot pot of boiling water was looming in their future. Once the cucs were washed, chopped,flavourings add, and brine prepared, the moment of truth came. The whole reason for them being there was to learn the next step….the preserving step!
Betsy walked them through the persevering process step by step: stuff jars, fill with brine, wipe rim, add lid, tighten lid, into the pot it goes, set timer and wait for the magic to begin. Okay, now it was their turn. Hands shook, tension mounted, oops forgot to wipe the lid, yikes spilled some brine, doah filled the jar too full; remove some pickles, darn forgot to tighten the lid.
As we moved on to the bread & butter pickle recipe, I could see the tension fade, eyes started to twinkle, conversation flowed more readily, there was a buzz of camaraderie in the room – they’d survived! Their first batch of pickles were nicely boiling away in the waterbath, sealing in the goodness and keeping out the botulism.
Once all the prep was done and the jars stuffed, we were back to the stove, ready to face the waterbath again….and this time our students set up their own staging area, got all the equipment ready – ladle in hand, armed with a wiping cloth and ready to go: fill, whip, lid, tighten, bath. Done!
And then it was time to clean up, relax, ask more questions and have a little snack while we waited for the pickles to seal themselves.
In 3 hours our students went from nervous to confident. Sure we had a few mix ups, every class does, but in the end our goal was achieved. Confident caners left our shop, ready to put a dent in the Ontario harvest and fill their pantry with Ontario goodness.
I can’t wait for our Tomato preserving classes in September!