Station: [404] Salt Box

F: Just a pinch on a boiled egg or a tomato sandwich...

M: In the old days, people weren't so stingy with salt. Every household kept large quantities of salt stored in wooden boxes. You simple reached into the box with your whole hand.

F: There is a reason for that. Before refrigerators and freezers, a lot of foodstuffs were salted to preserve them. Salt meat, ham, sausage, bacon, bread and butter – salt was needed for them all. Even vegetables such as beans were preserved in salt.

M: And let's not forget trusty old sauerkraut. Take shredded white cabbage, layer it with salt, tamp it all down well, seal the container, put it in the pantry... and wait. After a few weeks, the mix of cabbage and salt had turned into delicious, wholesome sauerkraut.

F: So the big box of salt on the wall stood the residents in good stead for decades.

Fotos: © Tanja Heinemann