Frozen fresh nature gifts

At the word "currant" slobber, and the Bulgarian pepper wants so that it makes you dizzy ... We can only dream about fresh gifts of nature, but frozen fresh gifts of nature are always at our service!

Advanced Europeans have long appreciated the benefits of frozen fresh gifts of nature (vegetables and fruits): modern methods of freezing allow you to store a large number of vitamins in them, while canning and drying - two times less. And even fresh - "off-season" - gifts of nature, brought from afar, can not compete for their useful properties with fresh fresh gifts of nature frozen straight from a branch or a garden. In addition, the "frost" - a real wand-zashchalochka for housewives, because delicious and useful you can cook in minutes: there is nothing to wash, clean, cut, and the time of heat treatment of semi-finished products is much less.


Gifts of nature in the "shock". The idea of ​​encouraging low temperatures to aid in the preservation of food has arisen for a long time. And it all began with the Italians, with their refrigeration engineer, or rather, with his aunt. She was a famous cook and cooked, especially vegetable dishes, so delicious that after her meals many guests simply became vegetarians. One sorrow - she had to cook a lot, cleaning and slicing the gifts of nature took a lot of time, besides they quickly spoiled and even before the cooking lost their presentation. What to do? Applied technology of slow freezing was only suitable for poultry and meat: vegetables, frozen up, turned into a large ice floe, and the ice crystals literally tore the vegetable flesh, which after unfreezing turned into an unpleasant and ugly "puree". But what about the frozen fresh gifts of nature? To help his aunt the nephew hurried, inventing together with his colleagues a "quick" freeze, in which the ultra-low temperatures did not allow the liquid inside the fruit to gather in large ice cubes. Now this idea is polished almost to perfection, thanks to which we have today a "shock" frost. However, not all vegetables are suitable for freezing.

For example , cucumbers are not at all adapted for this, and tomatoes, after defrosting, are only suitable for processing. Breeders had to work hard and create special varieties of green peas, well tolerated by low temperatures.

Multicolored mixes. Among the vegetable brotherhood, various appetizing assortments are very popular. Our mixes with colorful cabbage, bell pepper, corn, asparagus beans, Mexican, French and Italian mixes fell in love with our gourmets. Frozen frosts are becoming more and more popular, especially from white mushrooms, chanterelles, sprat, oily and, of course, champignons. Nutritious mixes with rice are nourishing, tasty and very beautiful. There are mixtures that only need to be defrosted (preferably in a microwave or under hot water, without opening the package) - and a base for olivier or risotto is ready. Now and then there are new items on the market, for example corn, frozen directly in the cob, or olives. And recently in large supermarkets you can find racks with "freezing" by weight and independently make from vegetables any compositions.


The gifts of nature include winter cherry and the company. If most of the vegetable "frosts" come to us from abroad - from Poland, France, Holland, Belgium - then our domestic frozen berries, especially forest fruits, have become increasingly popular in Europe. Cranberries, cranberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries are usually processed by us, but they are frozen on high-quality equipment abroad. And it is possible that they come back to us as an imported product. But to freeze in your own freezer you can cherry, strawberries, as well as currants. Although berries and will not be whole, burrows are very good for pies and compotes. Pears, peaches, watermelons and melons a bit bitter after defrosting, but plums and apricots are very tasty and quite survive this "exam". If you want to prepare, say, raspberries or strawberries for the winter, you can roll them to not frost, in sugar.

We'll be together until spring. For all its "Nordic" character, frozen nature gifts require a very affectionate attitude, like strict observance of storage conditions and can not tolerate repeated freezing. How to choose the right one? Pay attention to the appearance: if the components are well separated from each other, do not have a noticeable icing - this is a quality product. After defrosting, a pleasant, appetizing smell should appear. The service and information on the package will also serve: information about the manufacturer, composition, mode and timing of storage, references to regulatory documents.

Defrosting fruit and vegetable wealth is better right in the package. If you are going to cook your half-finished products or fry, then they generally should not be thawed. Remember that frozen berries, vegetables, fruits should not be washed before consumption: at the same time useful substances are lost and taste deteriorates. They need to be loaded into boiling salted (sweetened) water, and, most correctly, into a steamer. And then you will have more chances to hold out until the spring without beriberi and in a good mood