Swallow This by Joanna Blythman

Author:Joanna Blythman [Blythman, Joanna]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2014-12-20T00:00:00+00:00

10

Watery

Before I began investigating them for this book, ready-to-eat meats were a bit of a mystery to me, just because they were so different in form, texture and taste from any meats I have ever cooked at home. The first thing that struck me as strange was that they shared a certain sheen; it reminds me of the effect you get when petrol and water mix accidentally on the paving of a rainy petrol station forecourt. Whenever I cook meat, once the initial sheen of heat has gone, it looks matt, rather than shiny, with a variation in colour: some parts are pink, others much darker. Texture was a further puzzler. No meat cooked at home by me, or anyone else I know for that matter, has the slippery humidity and ‘bounce’ that is a hallmark of processed, cooked meats. At the firm end of the spectrum lie products with a Spam-like firmness, things like tinned ham, hot dogs, luncheon meat and garlic sausage. In the middle ground, there are those that have a bit of a wobble, offering an elastic resistance in the mouth. Think of the chicken discs that parents are encouraged to slip into their children’s lunchbox. At the softer end, you get those floppy yet still cohesive slices of ham with the clamminess of a limp, damp handshake; the sort that turns up in your workplace cafeteria sandwich, or on top of your pizza. And then there was the conundrum of the shape. No home-boiled ham or turkey I ever came across carved obligingly into identical slices of the same dimensions.

As I soon discovered, the distinctive characteristics of these ready-cooked meats are a testament to the boundless creativity, food engineering skill and sheer thrift of meat processors. Their art consists of taking a sow’s ear (often literally), and turning it into a silk purse. They do this by reconfiguring meat and fish in an infinitely more profitable way, through the addition of water. Lots of it. Why? Water is cheap; meat and seafood are expensive. The economic logic of such ‘cost engineering’, as it is known in food manufacturing, is obvious. Why sell meat when you can sell added water?

That said, getting meat to absorb liquid isn’t an easy task; in fact it’s contrary to the laws of nature. When an animal or fish dies, its muscles naturally contract (rigor mortis) and expel moisture. In the natural world, meat and fish get drier as they age, not wetter, and when we cook them, they dry out further. Nevertheless, meat manufacturers get round that technical challenge by mixing together tap water with a variety of substances, some classed as ingredients, some as processing aids, some as food additives, to make a soaking solution, referred to in the trade as ‘brine’. The substances added to the water vary in nature and composition, but they all have one thing in common: they act as binders, encouraging the meat or fish to do something it would not otherwise do: soak up and retain water.

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