Back to Basics: Fermenting Food

For most of us, a normal day consists of brushing our teeth, washing our bodies, clothes and hair, and scrubbing our nails, not to mention the use of all kinds of strong, sometimes toxic, cleaners to scrub our homes. We pride ourselves in cleanliness - but have we gone too far? Science tells us that bacteria live everywhere, in fact, they have found bacterial microorganisms that adjust to every climate from the tropics to Antarctica.

A number of scientists believe we spent too much energy trying to rid ourselves of bacteria that naturally benefit us. Studies have linked the absence of certain bacteria to sluggish metabolisms and insatiable appetites. “Having, or not having, certain species in our intestinal bacterial communities may have a profound effect on how efficiently we harvest and store energy from our food,” says Jeffrey Gordon, a microbiologist at the Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis. Other studies indicate that bacterial imbalances are associated with irritable bowel syndrome, post-surgical infections, use of antibiotics, and type 1 diabetes.

Many of those trying to find healthy nutritional alternatives have turned to probiotics. Probiotics are dietary supplements containing potentially beneficial bacteria or yeasts. The concept of probiotics evolved around 1900, when Nobel Prize-winner Elie Metchnikoff suggested that the long, healthy lives of Bulgarian peasants were the end result of their consumption of fermented milk. Later, he became convinced that yogurt contained the organisms necessary to protect the intestine from the damaging effects of other harmful bacteria.

Marketing campaigns have familiarized us with the names of a few probiotics, or healthy bacteria, including lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacteria, actobacillus casei, and Lactobacillus reuteri,but many other strains of bacteria have been recognized for their health benefits since Metchnikoff’s first hypothesis. Dannon and Kashi are just two of the corporations that have capitalized on commercialized versions of probiotic products. However, even with the wide spread public appeal of these dietary supplements, there is little information available to us on the quality of the probiotics in these products or, for that matter, common bottled probiotics. Scientists say that many over-the-counter probiotics are of inconsistent quality and may not be helpful at all. Consumer probiotics don't always contain medically recognized bacterial strains and often the bacteria they do contain are dead.

Lacto-fermented foods, on the other hand, have been around for centuries. Fermented foods have long been popular in North and Central European countries and also in China, Korea and Japan. Our ancestors knew that fermenting food was a good means of safeguarding live enzymes in the food, enhancing flavor, and creating cultural traditions that were, until recently, handed down from generation to generation. Fermentation allows the bacteria to break down the proteins and support overall digestion.

Fermented foods include: cultured vegetables, kimchi, sauerkraut, miso, tempeh, cider, kombucha, beer, wine, bread, mahewu, nuoc mam, cheese, and yogurt, among others. Many fermented foods we buy in the grocery store are not true fermented foods because they are created for profit and shelf life, not for our health. These foods are not really beneficial. To truly benefit, we need to eat foods that are fermented with "active" or "live" cultures. Pasteurization kills the living bacteria.

Consumers should look for unpasteurized and fresh fermented foods (usually in the refrigerator section). Since fermentation is a way to keep the living enzymes alive, it goes against all reason to use milk that is dead (pasteurized), for example. Undoubtedly, yogurt and kefir may be made with pasteurized milk, but it won't be as beneficial as those made with unpasteurized milk.

So, for this fall article, I share with you some basic fermented recipes.

Basic Cultured Vegetable

Recipe Wash and cut your vegetables (carrots, small cucumbers, turnips, parsnips, cabbage, and beets* are only a few of the veggies you might try) into slices or small pieces, and pack tightly into your jars or crocks. Clean all utensils jars and lids thoroughly with HOT water before beginning.

Wide mouthed quart jars work best. If you are using quart jars, add the following ingredients to each jar:

4 Tablespoons whey, (obtain whey by draining yogurt**)

1 Tablespoon sea salt (not iodized) spices (garlic, dill, hot pepper flakes, black or white pepper pods, celery seed, oregano, basil, ginger, cumin, curry powders, cilantro, cloves, cinnamon – experiment with spices you like) water—filtered or distilled (do not use tap water)

Add water to within an inch of the top of the jar. Be sure to cover the vegetables completely. Be sure the vegetables are tightly packed as they can expand with fermentation and rise to the surface.

You don’t want that to happen. Seal jars tightly with canning lids and seals. Do not put in canning bath. Leave jars in a quiet place at about 70 degrees for at least three days. A week is even better. Refrigerate to slow down fermentation. * Beets, unlike most other vegetables, must be dry baked before being cultured. ** To drain yogurt for the whey, place a quart of yogurt in cheesecloth and create a sack. Tie the sack of yogurt and hang from your kitchen faucet. Place a bowl beneath to catch the precious whey. It will take about 24 hours. The yogurt will become a tangy cream cheese spread.

Cultured Ginger Cabbage Kraut

3 heads green cabbage,shredded 6-8 carrots, large, shredded 2 inch piece ginger, peeled and grated 8 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped 1 Tablespoon sea salt (not iodized) Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Remove several cups of this mixture and put into a blender. Add enough filtered water (do not use tap water) to make a veggie brine the consistency of a thick juice.

Blend well and then add brine back into first mixture. Stir well. Pack mixture down a 1½ quart glass or stainless steel container. Use your fist, a wooden dowel, or a potato masher to pack veggies tightly. Fill container almost full, but leave about 2 inches of room at the top for veggies to expand. Roll up several cabbage leaves into a tight roll and place them on top to fill the remaining 2-inch space. Seal jars tightly with canning lids and seals. Do not put in canning bath. Leave jars in a quiet place at about 70 degrees for at least three days. A week is even better. Refrigerate to slow down fermentation.