Traditional Welsh Recipes

Keeping Food Fresh

How many times have you bought food and then forgotten about it only to remember it because it begins to smell? I used to do it all the time. Especially when I was single and working in an office. Sometimes, there's not much you can do about it, if you are forgetful or just not at home. However, I'm not talking about those occassions, I'm talking about what you can do about keeping food fresh!

There are many things you can do when keeping food fresh, such as keep your fridge clean!. Clean out your refrigerator and wash it on a regular basis; say, fortnightly. Do the same with anywhere else you store fresh food. But it's not just about checking the cupboards and removing aging food or all you would be doing is throwing food away at the right time.

No, there is more we can do about keeping food fresh by stopping food from deteriorating, which will save food, money and nasty odours.

Here is a practical list of tips for keeping food fresh naturally and for keeping food fresh longer:

• Scatter some cloves on and around the work surface of your kitchen, and also put some under the sink because cloves deter ants.
• Put some bay leaves inside your bags of flour, rice and the rest of the packs that insects like for the same reason as above, although you'll have to change the bay leaves every few months.
• Place half a potato in the refrigerator, because it will absorb smells and prevent cross-contamination of smells> Your open bottle of soda water will no longer smell of curry. Again change the half potato when it starts to look 'off'.
• Store eggs with the pointed side down: they stay fresher longer that way.
• Place a few cubes of sugar in the jar where you store hard cheese, because the sugar cube will absorb any moisture, which would otherwise cause mould.
• Do not store tomatoes and cucumbers in the same draw, because tomatoes give out gases that cause cucumbers to rot faster.
• Do not store apples along with the rest of the fruits and vegetables because they too give out gases that cause other fruit to rot more quickly.    Place slices of apples or raw potatoes in the bread compartment or jar, because by adding a few slices of raw potatoes or apples with the bread, you ensure that the bread remains fresh for longer than usual.
• Store radish in a vessel with some water, because water will keep the radish fresh and crisp for a long time. For the same reason, if the radishes have shrivelled, place them in a jar of cold water. Water will restore the radish to its previous water-filled glory.
• Don't store bananas in the fridge as it causes them to ripen and therefore blacken more quickly.
• Put a few grains of rice in the salt sellar and they will keep the salt free-flowing.
• Remove all vegetables and fruit from plastic bags if they are to go in the fridge - the bags will retain water and encourage mould.
• Wrap root vegetables in newspaper to keep the light out and moisture away.
• Buy small quantities of vegetables and increase the ratio of veg to meat in your meals - yes, eat them up before they go off.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed reading these hints and tips. They should save you food and money and make you feel better about waste and keep you fitter (the last point).