The (Unnecessary) Big Chill
In Salon this morning, Regina Schrambling is frustrated by how we refrigerate so many things that would do just fine on the pantry shelf:
In an informal e-survey of roughly 20 friends in six states, some of whom eat for a living, I found the same pattern. A number did know what foods go rancid in the pantry: nut and olive oils in particular (only corn and sesame oils have never turned on me) and fresh peanut butter (salmonella is not the only threat). They knew real maple syrup can go moldy at room temperature, and that true grits, cornmeal, wheat germ and other grains susceptible to spoilage actually benefit from the cold.
Still, all but one refrigerate scores of other ingredients that have no need to contribute to ozone depletion -- and the exception was a what-the-hell cook who says her husband and two sons complain there's never any food in the house. The rest faithfully chill food that could easily line fallout shelter shelves: soy sauce, chili pastes, vinegar (the original preservative), A-1 Sauce (lasts longer than the smoke in the wood in an English pub), molasses (shelf life of sugar), even cocoa (chocolate is vulnerable, but not the virtually fat-free powder). Oddities that turned up on their lists included juniper berries, tamarind concentrate and preserved lemons (note the adjective there?).
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