As you peruse the grounds of the Kinney Center, you will find yourself amidst our apple orchard. This orchard, planted in 2012, along with materials in the rare book library, established in 1998, provides visitors with the opportunity to appreciate the history of apples and processes like fermentation which have impacted generations of consumers. Turning to the Center’s rare book collection, readers can learn more about historic accounts of cider making and fermentation. As we read, we learn more about how the early moderns understood apples and wielded processes of rot, mold, and putrefaction to their advantage.
As a student in the College of Natural Science’s Food Science 120 course, “Food Preservation, Why & How”, taught by Peiyi Shen, I learned about food preservation and the science behind why and how food goes “bad”. Within this course, I have learned the basic principles of food processing and preservation, including the preservation of foods like apples in processes like fermentation. Microorganisms play an important role in a food's chemical, physical, and biological stability. Microorganisms include: virus, bacteria, yeast, and mold. During food fermentation, humans manipulate conditions to support the growth of desired microorganisms and inhibit the growth of undesired microorganisms that cause food to spoil or spread illness. When fermenting apples for cider, for example, the primary desired microorganisms are specific species of yeast. If you consider apple cider, the process consists of crushing apples into juice and letting the juice ferment. Throughout the fermentation process, you are influencing changes in texture, flavor, aroma, color, and in some cases improving the nutritional properties of the food.
Early modern writers focus on the functions of oxygen in particular when encountering cider. In John Worlidge’s Vinetum Britannicum, 1676, Worlidge places particular emphasis on cider storage, describing the impact of air exposure on the fermentation process and overall quality of cider. Worlidge claims, “Drawing of cider into bottles, and keeping it in them well stopt for some time, is a great improver of cider” (Worlidge, 1676, p. 106). While storing cider, Worlidge states that glass stoppers are preferred to prevent the spoiling of the cider by “defect of the cork”.
From what I’ve learned in FOODSCI 120, I can make connections to Worlidge and infer that Worlidge is trying to prevent the contamination of the cider by undesired microorganisms or changes in flavor by using glass stoppers. Worlidge also cautions that barrelling up cider from the cider press and then stopping the barrel is harmful to the liquor and that many have spoiled the cider through this method. Based on these claims, I can connect Worlidge’s findings to modern-day science. Microbial growth alludes to the growth of microorganisms, including bacteria and mold. Whereas, enzymes are biological catalysts which hasten chemical reactions, including turning food brown. As cider interacts with oxygen in the air, the water activity from the liquid encourages microbial growth and enzyme activity, which can negatively impact the quality of the cider. There is significant overlap between what early moderns understood about preserving food, and what modern science proves to be true about food preservation and safety.
“The Form of the Vessel” (Worlidge, 101)
Reflecting on the work of Worlidge alongside the research from FOODSCI 120, there are clear links between the past and present practices of creating cider. It is exciting to discover how the early moderns were attempting to improve the quality and flavor of their food and drink using methods still deployed for preservation today.
—Hannah Gould, RoE Fellow
References:
Shen, P. (2023, February 16). Carbohydrates [PowerPoint Slides]. Department of Food Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Shen, P. (2023, April 4). Drying/Dehydration [PowerPoint Slides]. Department of Food Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Shen, P. (2023, April 6). Fermentation [PowerPoint Slides]. Department of Food Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Shen, P. (2023, March 9). Preservatives [PowerPoint Slides]. Department of Food Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Shen, P. (2023, February 9). Why Foods Go Bad? [PowerPoint Slides]. Department of Food Science, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Worlidge, J. (1676). Vinetum Britannicum, or, A treatise of cider. London.