Pascal (28) lives in a quiet area just outside the village. Together with his parents, he owns a farm with a plot of land where dozens of chickens scratch around, two sheep graze and three pigs root in the mud. Their garden provides more abundance every year and the family knows what to do with it! You will be amazed by their storage shed...
Along the walls are rows of jars and bottles of pickled soups and sauces, preserved vegetables, jams, dried herbs and fruit, all kinds of fruit juices and even home-made cider and elderberry wine. Thanks to various preservation techniques, Pascal and his parents eat home-grown food all year round.
It all started when Pascal was eighteen. At the time, they could harvest so many peas, carrots and cabbages from the small patch of vegetable garden in their backyard, it was impossible to eat all of it themselves. He went to his grandmother for advice on how to store their crops. He tried to cook the harvested vegetables with her. However, that didn't quite work out the way they wanted, so they signed up for a workshop on preserving food. The process of canning is one of the techniques that have been used for centuries to process and preserve food. This knowledge was passed on from generation to generation, but has been forgotten because of the existence of supermarkets, where we can get what we want all year round. A pity, Pascal thinks. To be able to make a living and to use locally produced food in a sustainable way, knowing how to preserve food is valuable knowledge.
Ten years later, Pascal knows everything about the art of food preservation. He collects old (cookery) books and kitchen utensils to preserve as much of our culinary heritage as possible. He also publishes about it on Instagram (@duurzamekeuken) and he gives workshops, because he wants to make the knowledge available (again) and be passed on. He is happy to see that more and more young people are becoming passionate about preservation these days.