Many of the things we now consider to be culinary skills were born out of necessity and the principal necessity was the preservation of food. It is easy to forget that household refrigerators were unheard of even a hundred years ago. Before that, many different methods were used to preserve foodstuffs, techniques with long histories and steeped in regional tradition. Those traditions date back to prehistoric times, when our hunter-gatherer ancestors had to cope with the cyclic availability of food and the vagaries of the seasons. Geography and climate played their part in the development of these techniques. In warmer regions, using the warm, drying rays of the sun; proximity to the sea meant the availability of salt for curing; many variations exist for pickling. In northern climes, smoking was the method of choice – the presence of fire was necessary to overcome the cold, the smoke produced not only preserved foods, it added interesting flavours and introduced new textures. Sweden's location in North Europe places it squarely in a region with a long history of smoking foodstuffs, and it is this cultural heritage which has been built into the range of ABAS Smokehouses. Of course, our modern, technological world has meant that we no longer need to worry about such historical techniques, everything is available from the supermarket shelf or refrigerator: sun-dried jerky and tomatoes, cured hams and bacons, smoked fish from around the world. At the same time, people want to stamp their own personal style on what they eat and present to their family and friends. We see this in the never-ending stream of cookbooks and TV chefs, even in the popularity of barbecues around the world. A growing awareness of environmental sustainability, however, has seen a movement back to nature, to so-called ‘slow’ food, to the use of local products on a seasonal basis. ABAS Smokehouses help you match these apparently conflicting needs. ABAS Smokehouses give you flexibility and control over what you eat. More or less smoky flavour, darker or lighter colour, warmer or cooler treatment, different types of wood – you decide. Create YOUR flavour with an ABAS Smokehouse
