Fermentation is a natural process through which microorganisms like yeast and bacteria convert starch and sugar into alcohol or acids. The alcohol or acids act as a natural preservative and give fermented foods a distinct sour taste.
To do your own ferments is very easy and the finished result is a healthy and tasty product with beneficial bacteria known as probiotics that will help your gut flora be at its best. So go ahead and choose your favourite vegetables and seasoning and make them sour!
My Sauerkraut
Cabbage head, save 1-3 outer leaves/shells
Garlic
Ginger
Salt 20 gram/kilo vegetables
Slice the cabbage in thin slices, chop the garlic and grate the ginger. Put it all in a big pot and weigh the vegetables and add 20 grams of salt per kilo. Mix it all with your hands, massage, squeeze and make the cabbage release its water, in 5-10 minutes there will be enough water for you to put everything in a jar and the water will cover the vegetables.
If the vegetables own liquid isn’t enough to cover the vegetables you can make a brine, 20 grams of salt per litre of water. Boil some hot water and melt the salt in some, then add cold water. You can’t add hot brine to the vegetables, then you will kill the beneficial bacteria that lives on your vegetables. Often it only needs a little extra liquid so I usually make about 5 dl of brine and pour on top. Put the leaves/shells of cabbage you saved on top of the blend and press the vegetables down so they are under water. The cabbage leaves work as lid that keeps the vegetables under water.
If you don’t have any cabbage leaves you can use a clean stone for weight, a plastic bag filled with water that will press down the vegetables, a plate with a stone on top and so on. You can also buy special fermentation pots that can look very different, see the picture for examples. We use regular glass jars with snap on lids, I added a picture to clarify, we need to open up and let some pressure out now and then from this kind of snap lid, it is bubbling with activity and life and will otherwise build up so much pressure it will erupt.
Fermentation jar
The glass jar we use
Think about:
· Use your home-grown vegetables or organic from the store, if you use non-organic ingredients it’s possible the ferment will not succeed because of pesticides and chemical fertilizers.
· If you want to ferment whole vegetables, like staves, bits and pieces you probably don’t want to mush them around to extract water, then you make a brine and pour on top and then put something that presses the vegetables down under the brine. The salt amount can vary a bit depending on the vegetable, so search for a good recipe to find out the right amount.
· Make sure your hands are clean and no rings on your fingers, you want good bacteria to thrive in the jar, not something that lives underneath your wedding ring :)
· Avoid salt with iodine, those salts have usually gone through a process where they remove all the natural minerals and added both iodine and an anti-caking agent. You can use this kind of salt, but it gives a cloudy fermentation, can give a bad taste and also the iodine contains anti-microbial properties. We use a lovely unrefined sea salt that still has every nice aspect of minerals and nutrients.
· The warmer the room the faster the fermentation process, if it is too fast it may not develop as much taste as a slower fermentation.
· You can use a starter culture although there is no need, especially not the store bought ones. Add some of your old fermented “juice” to the new ferment, or get some from someone else, to get the fermentation to start faster, but then again, the own bacteria may be overtaken by the starter culture bacteria and the special flavours from the new one will not come through. Don’t bother with starter cultures
· If you have Black currant bushes in your backyard, add some leaves to the fermentation, they contain a lot of good bacteria that will jumpstart the fermentation. Don’t wash the leaves!
More examples of what I usually make, do it as the recipe above.
Fermented Carrots
Carrots, grated
Garlic, chopped
Ginger, grated
Salt
Fermented Parsnips
Parsnips, grated
Garlic, chopped
Ginger, grated
Salt
Fermented cucumber
Cucumber, grated
Garlic, chopped
Ginger, grated
Salt
Fermented zucchini
Zucchini, grated
Yellow onions, chopped
Garlic, chopped
Salt
Fermented cucumber staves – make a brine to pour on top
Cucumber, staves
Horseradish leaves or vine leaves (to keep some crunchiness to the cucumber)
Horse radish, grated
Whole pepper
Garlic, chopped
Dill
Fermented Bell pepper – make a brine to pour on top
Bell pepper, slices
Garlic, halves
Salt
You can make fermented sauces like Salsa and chili paste, those are really nice to your BBQ.
There are no limits to what you can do here, use the vegetables, fruits, herbs and seasonings that you think will make up a good blend. Remember to use as much organic and homegrown as possible, they will have better and natural bacteria that will start the fermentation and give a good taste.
To read/listen
An interesting lecture by master fermenter Sandor Katz, very worth watching, here.
Our favourite book about fermentation is Sandor Katz´s book The art of fermentation. We also have some fermentation books in Swedish, like this one, Fermentering. Search your bookstore or library and you will find good books with good recipes.
The wise traditions podcast about fermentation,
Episode 114; The wild world of fermentation
And
Episode 247; What’s so good about fermented foods
I hope you got something out of the text and feel confident enough to try it out!
Good luck!
Tova