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Fermented Food for Beginners:

IntroductionBY S H A N N O N ON J U L Y 1 7 , 2 0 0 9 1 7 C O M M E N T S IN N O U R I S H I N G F O O D

our first batch of lacto-fermented pickles for the year

In my journey to nourishing food eating more fermented foods was one of the last Nourishing Traditions

principles we incorporated. It seems as though Im not alone because many Ive spoen with say the same

thing. !hy is that"

The truth is maing your own fermented foods is intimidating# taes a bit of effort and is pretty foreign to

most of us. $nd if youd rather buy most fermented foods youd better be prepared to spend a pretty penny

for that %convenience food.&

Its a shame# really# because these foods contain friendly bacteria for your gut and many more nutrients th

their un'fermented counterparts.

In the past two years we have slowly wored up the courage to e(periment with lacto'fermented vegetable

cultured dairy products and fermented beverages such as ombucha. I am by no means an e(pert# but my

hope is that by sharing with you our journey and the ease with which we are now able to consume these

health building foods that you may be inspired to tae the leap as well.

!hat really helped me along in e(perimenting with different forms of fermented dairy as well as ombuch

brewing were the starters and super helpful instructions that I ac)uired here. I had previously been given

efir grains with no e(planation of how to use them or troubleshoot. It wasnt long before they went in the

trash. !ith the wonderful step by step instructions and troubleshooting guide it made things very simple a

we are now enjoying efir smoothies several times per wee.

So, starting next week I will begin a three part series discussing cultured dairy, lacto-fermented

vegetables and the fermented beverage kombucha.These parts will in no way be a thorough treatise of

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each topic. Instead we will loo at the health benefits of each# how we mae our own and how weve

incorporated them into our diet.

I hope youll join me ne(t wee to share what you now about fermented foods. *ee you then+

Fermented Food for Beginners: ,airyBY S H A N N O N ON J U L Y 2 0 , 2 0 0 9 2 8 C O M M E N T S IN N O U R I S H I N G F O O D

-ost of us have seen or eaten cultured or fermented dairy at some point. ogurt and sour cream are proba

the most commonly consumed cultured dairy foods. Today we will loo at those and others that you can

mae at home and incorporate into your daily diet.

First of all lets discuss the benefits of fermenting dairy

It contains friendly bacteria that are necessary for health. These bacteria help stave off candida

overgrowth and improve digestion.

It is better tolerated by those who might be sensitive to mil and cream.

It improves the nutrient profile of the mil or cream.

It e(tends the shelf life of mil or cream.

*o# what are these cultured dairy products# how can we mae them at home and how can we introduce the

into our daily diet" Ill share with you some tipsfrom my own limited nowledge/

Yogurt

$lmost all of us have had yogurt at one time or another. In fact I was pleasantly surprised to find out that

how to mae yogurt in the croc pothas been one of my most popular posts. 0ne thing that I have learnedover the past few months is that you can mae raw yogurt without the use of a yogurt maer. I have a few

different raw yogurt cultures that I hope to play with soon# but the basic method for raw milk yogurt go

something like this

In order to secure consistent results you must first mae a starter from the powdered culture and

pasteuri1ed mil.

2ombine said starter with raw mil and allow to culture in a warm place until thicened.

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*ave the pasteuri1ed culture for your ne(t batch and continue maing yogurt# preparing a new batc

of starter when necessary.

2hill in the refrigerator overnight for optimum consistency.

ogurt can be eaten plain# with fruit and3or sweetener# used in smoothies# strained to mae a delicious gre

yogurt or yogurt cheese and used in recipes lie my yogurt ranch dip.

You can find powdered starters here, which is where I procured mine.

Buttermilk

Buttermil is something that is also familiar to most of us. It is thic and tangy and adds a lovely flavor to

baed goods and ranch dressing. 4nlie the buttermil that comes from the maing of real butter# the

buttermil you buy in the store is cultured. But again# you can mae it at home with raw mil. !he basic

method for raw buttermilk goes something like this

2reate and maintain a pure starter by using pasteuri1ed mil and the powdered culture.

To mae buttermil combine 536 cup of raw mil with 736 cup of the pure starter# being sure to reta

736 cup of the starter for your ne(t batch of pure starter.

$llow to culture in a warm place for 78'79 hours.

Buttermil can be used to add great te(ture and tang to baed goods# added to ranch dressing or even dran

straight from the cup.

You can find powdered starters here, which is where I procured mine.

Kefir

efir was fairly foreign and intimidating to me up until a couple of years ago. I tried maing some with

grains from a friend# but without any instructions I failed and so did my efir. !ith detailed instructions I

was aware that the first few batches may not %efir& and so I used only a cup of mil for those and was

patient enough to eep trying until by the 5rd batch we had efir. *ince then we have had at least a pint of

this jewel on hand at all times for smoothies.

!he basic method for raw kefir goes something like this

ou will receive efir grains ;gelatinous cottage'cheese lie lumps< along with a little bit of efir.

,ump both the grains and the efir into about a cup of raw mil.

2over with cheesecloth or a cloth napin secured with a rubberband.

=eave in a warm place for 78'86 hours.

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our first few batches may not %efir thus leaving you with soured mil > which you can use for

baing. ,ont be discouraged. *imply strain out the efir grains and start another batch.

ou will now your mil has efired when it is thic ;wont run up the sides when tilted< and smel

slightly yeasty.

*train or fish out the grains# place them in a clean jar# start another batch of efir and refrigerate th

old one.

I have found that when I am pressed for time or am low on raw mil I can put the finished efir ;w

grains< in the refrigerator for a day or two before starting a new batch.

0ur favorite way to eat efir is in smoothies in combination with fruit. I have also read that you can drin

plain or with a little vanilla and sweetener.

You can find kefir grains here, which is where I procured mine.

Creme Fraiche or Sour Cream

If you have some e(tra cream sitting around you can mae creme fraiche using your homemade buttermil

have yet to mae this myself since cream is at a high premium in our home# but I hope to one day if we

happen to have e(tra. From what Ive read the basic method for making creme fraiche or sour cream

goes something like this

-i( about a cup of raw cream with appro(imately 7 teaspoon > 7 tablespoon buttermil.

$llow to culture in a warm place until thicened.

?efrigerate.

4se as a topping# a base for desserts and on everything else you can thin of because it will be so yummy

and nutritious.

@@@@@@

*o that is what I now about cultured dairy. I found out that it is much more approachable than I thought a

easy to continue to maintain. I am thanful to have found help with starters and detailed instructions in ord

to tae that leap and feed my family more yummy# healthy and frugal foods.

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Fermented Food for Beginners: =acto'

Fermented AegetablesBY S H A N N O N ON J U L Y 2 2 , 2 0 0 9 1 7 1 C O M M E N T S IN N O U R I S H I N G F O O D ,

S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y

This is part 3 in a four part series. I renamed this series Fermented Food for Beginners in the hopes that i

will encourage anyone who was intimidated about making their own ferments, as I was.

art !"Introduction

art #"Fermented $airy

"efore the advent of modern day canning most of our #merican fore mothers understood the proces

of lacto-fermentation.They had crocs of real sauerraut# lacto'fermented cucumber picles and other

treasures such as beets# onions or garlic waiting out the winter in the root cellar.

Those countries with histories deeper than our own also traditionally fermented vegetables with simply sal

water and spices > nowing that the lactic acid produced would prevent the putrefication of these precious

nutritional storehouses# eeping them fed through winter. imchi from orea and cortido from =atin

$merica are just two of the flavorful and delicious condiments not native to our own country.

$hen we lost touch with this food preservation techni%ue we also lost touch with the unparalleled

health benefits that came with them.*ally Fallon is a huge proponent of lacto'fermentation in her boo

Nourishing Traditions# and for good reason:

The proliferation of lactobacilli in fermented %egetables enhances their digestibility and increases %itamin

le%els. These beneficial organisms produce numerous helpful en&ymes as well as antibiotic and anti

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carcinogenic substances. Their main by-product, lactic acid, not only keeps %egetables and fruits in a state

of perfect preser%ation but also promotes the growth of healthy flora throughout the intestine.

$fter being completely overwhelmed by my first read through of Nourishing Traditions I waited months

before maing sauerraut. The concept was foreign and intimidated me. Because I have grown up in a

culture that thins you have to pasteuri1e everything I wondered if I would poison my family.

If you are like I was & intimidated and a bit doubtful & then dont be.ou will now if a batch has gon

bad. ou will get used to# and even start to enjoy# the flavor of these healthful condiments. ou will find t

they are not much more difficult to assemble than a simple salad. ou will actually want to eep a few

jars3crocs on hand for health and flavor reasons.

To be honest I wasnt wild about sauerraut at first# nor the picles that turned to mush. I found that I

enjoyed bolder variations of sauerraut such as imchi and cortido. I also recently discovered how to ma

pickles keep their crunch a bit more & grape leaves.Ive only tried one batch# adding the wild grape

leaves from our own bacyard# but they are crunchy and delicious instead of mushy and off'putting lie m

first few batches. It is the tannins in the grape leaves that are said to perform the delicious act.

So I would encourage you, if you were like me, to give lacto-fermentation a try.It is fairly simple# fru

and maes the most of your hard'earned real food. ou can use whey as a starter culture in your brine# wh

*ally Fallon recommends in Nourishing Traditions.

I have not been using whey as of late and have yet to have a bad batch. I will leave you with two of my

favorite flavors of lacto'fermented vegetables > cortido and dill picles. I have come to love these little

treasures so much that it maes it easy to eat them at two meals a day. Now all I need is that root cellar I

dream of so that I can stoc it full of giant crocs full of these tasty treasures.

Cortido

from Nourishing Traditions by *ally Fallon'ecipe (otes" I sometimes lea%e out the carrots and hal%e the

amount of onions. ) struggle that I ha%e is keeping the %egetables below the li*uid le%el. I ha%e yet to ha%e

bad batch, but this can cause mold. +ne thing that I am considering purchasingfrom hereis an airlock

setup that allows the fermentation gases to escape while keeping air out. You can also purchase ready-ma

lacto-fermented %egetables here.

7 large cabbage# cored and shredded

7 cup carrots# grated

8 medium onions# )uartered lengthwise and very finely sliced

7 tablesoon dried oregano

736 > 738 teaspoon red pepper flaes

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7 tablespoon sea salt

6 tablespoons whey ;if not available# use an additional 7 tablespoon salt