(upbeat music)
- [Narrator] Behold, canned food,
but where did it come from?
Meet Nicolas Appert,
born in France in 1749.
Today, Nicolas Appert is known
as the father of canning,
but before he began preserving food,
Nicolas tried several other careers,
including a stint a chef and a brewer.
His experience working with
food brought him face-to-face
with one of the unpleasant
realities of food, it spoils.
Depending on the climate,
it can spoil very quickly.
At this time, the chief
preservation method
had several disadvantages.
These methods altered the taste of food
and they were not always effective.
Yet, preserved food was a vital supply
during the harsh European winters.
Preservation was also a huge
problem for the military.
Such a problem that in
1800, Napoleon Bonaparte
offered an award of
12,000 francs to anyone
who could invent a better
way to preserve food
for his armies.
Nicolas learned that food can be preserved
by using heat to sterilize
the food in closed vessels.
Here's how it worked.
Nicolas placed food in a glass
jar or bottle and corked it,
sealing the lid.
He then placed the
container in boiling water
for several hours,
depending on the type of
food he was preserving.
Heat preservation may sound simple today,
but he won Napoleon's prize.
He also used the money to
build the first cannery
and wrote a book about his process.
