Curing

Curing is one of the oldest techniques of preserving products, above all meat and fish, with the help of salt. It is a fundamental way of keeping that for centuries saved humanity from hunger, allowing perishable products to be stored for months ahead, long before the advent of refrigerators.

The mechanism of curing is elegantly simple and based on the phenomenon of osmosis. The salt with which the product is rubbed, or in whose solution it is steeped, draws moisture out of it and out of the microbial cells. Without water the pathogenic and putrefactive bacteria cannot live and multiply, so the product is reliably preserved. Besides, the salt gives it a characteristic flavour and a firmer texture. There are two main methods: dry curing (the product is rubbed with dry salt, often with spices and sugar) and wet curing (steeping in a salt solution — a brine). Curing is often the first step before other techniques — smoking or air-drying. Classic examples of cured products are salo, herring, bacon, ham, gravlax, and jerky. In the Ukrainian tradition, curing (of salo, fish, meat) holds a place of honour. This ancient, time-tested technique is an example of human ingenuity in keeping food, which at the same time gives products an inimitable flavour.