Salt – 7000 years of meat-curing (Intro, prehistory and Africa)

INTRODUCTION

Edward Smith writes in his 1867 publication, Foods, “the oldest and best-known preserving agent (for meat) is salt, with or without saltpetre.” (Smith, E, 1867: 34)

It is reported in the American Encyclopedia of 1858, that “Very excellent bacon may be made with common salt alone, provided it is well rubbed in, and changed sufficiently often. Six weeks in moderate weather will be sufficient for the curing of a hog of 12 score.” (Governor Emerson . 1858: 1031)

This introduces us to the use and function of salt in bacon.  What is the earliest use of salt as a food preservative and flavour enhancer?  What is a salt exactly and when was the composition of different salts identified?  How does salt preserve food and what is the mechanics behind its enhancement of flavour and taste?

Here we introduce these fascinating subjects which can easily occupy someone’s attention for a lifetime.

PREHISTORY

Salt has been in wide use from the earliest time, but fixing the earliest date by when we can, with confidence claim that salt was used to preserve meat is not easy.  The use of salt in food probably predates the existence of modern humans.  Sodium chloride may have been collected and stored by one of the oldest species of the genus Homo, Homo Habilis who existed between 1.4 and 2.4 million years ago.  (Munas, F.; 2014 :213)  From this, we can however not conclude that salt was used to preserve meat.

It is speculated that a much closer ancestor, the Neanderthal who lived between 40 000 and 400 000 years ago, dried meat as a way to preserve it.  Bent S?rensen suggests that in order for Neanderthal to have carried large carcases to their settlements (after hunting), they could have employed a technique used by later hunter-gatherer societies in Africa and American Indians of drying the meat at the site and carrying it home by threading a stick through it.  He speculates that solar energy could have been used in the summer for drying and wind energy with low air moisture during the winter.  Such techniques could have reduced the meat mass that had to be carried by a third.”  He also suggests that “storing times could have been prolonged by smoking or salting the meat.  Smoking seems fully accessible to Neanderthal societies.” He adds that “we do not know if they used salt.” (Soresen, B..  2012)  The likely use of smoke to preserve meat along with drying is important when we ultimately will apply all this to bacon curing, which remains our primary subject of interest, but so far, we do not have a definite date for the preservation of meat through salting.

There is clear evidence that salt was mined since before the last ice age, some 12 000 years ago in the hills of Austria and Poland, the shores of the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea, the salt springs and sea marches across Europe and Asia. (Bitterman, M, 2010: 16)  Similar evidence exists for salt mining across Africa and South America.  It seems as if there is not a time known to humans when salt was not mined, in all likelihood to amend our diet, as an ingredient in the manufacturing of a range of products including pottery making and quite possibly to preserve meat.  Again, we know that salt was used, but no automatic connection to meat preservation is established for any of these.

PRE-COLONIAL AFRICA

In Africa pre-salting of meat, for preservation was not known until Europeans introduced the practice during colonialization.  The need to preserve meat was not there.  When an animal was killed, it was slaughtered and the meat consumed by the tribe, that same day.  If salt was added, it was done after cooking the meat as a condiment.

Salt, in precolonial Africa, as was the case around the world at some point, was a scarce and expensive commodity.  Ordinary people, generally speaking, had little or no access to salt.  For many years it was reserved for royalty and the elite of society.  David Livingston, for example, refers to the poor in Africa in the 1840's with the adjective, "who had no salt" and to salt, as that which "the rich alone could afford to buy."  (Hyde, A., et al.;  1867:  150)

Livingston makes an interesting observation about salt.  He was working among a tribe, the Bakwains, while living at Kolobeng, approximately 20km west of Gaborone in the present day Botswana.  He described how the poor often suffered from indigestion on account of their lack of salt.  The region has no natural sources of salt.  Native doctors who, according to Livingston, was aware of the fact that the lack of salt was the reason for the malady, prescribed salt along with other ingredients.  The doctors themselves did not have any salt and so, the missionaries were approached for help. They "cured" the disease by giving them a teaspoon of salt (minus the other ingredients).  He mentions that either milk or meat had a similar effect, but not as rapid as salt.  (Hyde, A., et al.;  1867:  150)  This has subsequently been well described and explained by modern science.  Another important observation from this account is that Livingston confirms the use of salt in food as a condiment only and not to preserve.

The lack of information on meat preservation by ancient societies is challenging.  It was probably initiated at a time before these things were written down.  Linking salt works of the ancient world and salt preservation of meat, as most authors on the subject do, is not valid as is clear from the African example.  There are locations in Southern Africa where archaeologists have traced the mining of salt back to 4000 years ago and yet, preserving of meat with salt is a very recent, post-colonial development in Africa.  They mined salt, but they did not preserve the meat using the salt.  Salt was simply used in other ways.

This does not mean that the technology of using salt for preserving meat was unknown in Africa.  Livingston's life becomes an example of this knowledge.  When he passed away in Zambia in 1875, the tribe used salt to preserve his body after which his body was exposed to the sun for 14 days to dry in an embalming ceremony.  Livingston's embalming was done in order to facilitate repatriation of the body.  (Hyde, A., et al.;  1867:  150)  How far South down the African continent this was known is an interesting question and the Livingston example indicates that the technology and practice were known further South than one would have expected.

(c) eben van tonder

INDEX

OVERVIEW

-> INTRODUCTION

-> PREHISTORY

-> PRE-COLONIAL AFRICA

MUMMIFICATION – KEY TO PRESERVATION TECHNOLOGY

THE CHINCHORRO MUMMIES OF ATACAMA DESERT

THE TARIM MUMMIES OF CHINA

THE SILK ROAD

DUNHUANG

EVIDENCE IN SUPPORT OF THE CHINA PRIORITY IN MEAT CURING

CONCLUSION