Posted on 06/11/2009 3:21:16 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Philip Sweet crossed over to the other side while volunteering at the Pickle Pavilion at last year's Slow Food Nation in San Francisco. He became fascinated with fermentation and the variety of ways people pickle around the globe.
"People are pickling everything," he says. "It opened up a whole new world to me."
As Sweet's work as an event planner slowed in recent months, he and a friend created Urban Peasant SF, an organization devoted to traditional food-preservation methods. Last month, they organized a class on fermented beverages; during the same period, Bay Area aficionados flocked to an all-day fermentation festival, a kimchi contest and a hands-on sauerkraut class, each practically unheard of a year ago.
Canning may still be having its comeback in this DIY era, but traditionally fermented vegetables - such as sauerkraut, kimchi and barrel-fermented pickles - take urban homesteaders to the next level of old-style food preservation. An easy and delicious way to put up the harvest, fermenting appeals both to the slow food and the health food crowds. It also fascinates those curious about food chemistry, whether a professional cook or passionate home tinkerer.
"I've always been interested in the old ways. I make jokes about watching 'Little House on the Prairie,' " says Alicia Preston, a client services manager for a software company. Last weekend, the self-taught pickler hosted a fermentation booth at Maker Faire in San Mateo, the annual celebration of modern-day crafts. "It's part of the lingering back-to-the- land movement stuff that I was briefly exposed to as a kid."
An ancient method
The basic method used to create common foods like bread, cheese, chocolate and wine, fermentation is almost as ancient as agriculture itself. It's simply the process by which yeast or bacteria transform sugar into acid or alcohol. While fermented foods like kombucha, kefir, old-fashioned soda and homemade miso are in the limelight, fermented vegetables - transformed from their raw form into pickles via lactic fermentation - have their own niche.
"There's a renaissance of interest in fermented foods," says Jessica Prentice, cookbook author and co-founder of the Locavores, the group who helped bring attention to using strictly local ingredients. At last month's fermentation festival in Freestone (Sonoma County), Prentice demonstrated how to make kimchi and sauerkraut. She considers the amount of attention being given to fermented foods - including by teenage vegans and hip young urbanites - at the level of a "movement."
The vast majority of store-bought pickles rely on vinegar for sourness, and most commercial sauerkraut is pasteurized at vast processing plants. Fermented pickles and unpasteurized sauerkrauts are made from raw vegetables that sit in a salty brine at cool room temperature for several weeks. This encourages the growth of beneficial, naturally occurring lactic bacteria, which destroys potentially harmful bacteria and creates lactic acid. Lactic fermentation causes the vegetables to become mildly, pleasantly sour and tender.
"I'm just fascinated by this bacteria. It's like gardening," says Kathryn Lukas, a professional chef who says she was first introduced to "real" sauerkraut more than a decade ago while living in Stuttgart, Germany. But Lukas' new line of Farmhouse Culture sauerkrauts have less to do with oompah bands and beer halls than with healthy eating and local, sustainable produce.
Lesson in sauerkraut
At a hands-on class at San Francisco's La Cocina commercial kitchen in April, Lukas demonstrated how to make a fresh-tasting sauerkraut that tastes almost nothing like the puckery commercial variety. She sliced the cabbage, tossed it with salt and caraway, and set it aside for 20 minutes to let the salt leach out the vegetable's juices. Then she showed how to punch the kraut into a jar so it would be submerged in its own brine.
The sauerkraut needs to stay in a cool place and ferment for about two weeks. After that, it will become increasingly sour until it's refrigerated, which halts fermentation. Late fall or early winter, rather than summer, is its traditional season, but our cool coastal climate and the availability of local cabbage means that Lukas can stay in production year-round.
Berkeley's Cultured goes through 2,000 pounds of farm-direct vegetables a week for its raw sauerkrauts, specialty seasonal pickles and kombuchas made with fresh-pressed juices. The latter two - with flavors like fennel kombucha and fermented purple carrot with red onion, coriander and lemon zest - are available only at its Berkeley pickle shop and at two Berkeley farmers' markets, while the sauerkraut is sold in grocery stores.
Cultured is also one of the few local producers of traditional Japanese pickles such as kasu, which are fermented with sake dregs from Takara brewery down the street. For nuka pickles, co-owner Alex Hozven and staff makes a paste of rice bran, seaweed and salt, which they cultivate for three months, adding vegetable scraps every day to aid fermentation. When the paste is ready, it's so active that it can pickle a carrot within a day or even hours, adding a yeasty umami flavor and slight sourness to the crisp, sweet vegetable.
Some in own juices
At the sleek West Berkeley Cultured kitchen, vegetables ferment in salt and their own juices - no water is added - for two to 10 weeks. They are held in steel fermentation tanks inside a walk-in refrigerator that stays in the low to mid-60s.
The health benefits of raw and fermented vegetables are what makes them one of the mainstays of the prepared foods offered by Three Stone Hearth in Berkeley. A cooperative kitchen that follows the nutritional philosophy of the Weston Price movement, it prepares traditional, "nutrient-dense" foods for weekly ordering and pickup, including a cultured raita and fermented radishes from River Dog farm.
Jessica Prentice, one of Three Stone Hearth's five worker-owners, touts the high levels of vitamin C, beneficial bacteria and active enzymes in fermented vegetables in her cookbook, "Full Moon Feast" (Chelsea Green, 2006).
Helping digestion
Fermented foods are also known to aid digestion, which is why they're traditionally paired with rich meats. Salvadorans pile curtido, a type of sauerkraut, on top of cheese-filled pupusas. But modern-day pickle aficionados see fermented foods as their own food group.
Kimchi certainly plays that role for Koreans, who eat at least 75 pounds a year per capita. As part of Critter Salon, a series of events that often explore food and fermentation, artist Philip Ross organized a kimchi contest last month that drew more than 30 entrants to the Mission district event. The winner, Connie Choe, had flown in from Los Angeles.
A professor of sculpture at University of San Francisco and former restaurant cook, Ross' work often involves bringing people in touch with the biotechnology around us.
"It's kind of magical. You have one thing and expose it to another process - maybe it's a salt - and it totally becomes something else," he says. "It's amazing."
There's yet another part of fermentation that appeals to Bay Area cooks - it relies on wild yeasts and bacteria from the air or in the food itself.
"If you make sauerkraut at home or things that require wild fermentation," says Sweet of Urban Peasant SF. "You can't eat any more local than that."
-- Recipes and additional tips and resources on fermenting foods, F4-5
-- Taster's Choice picks for pickled asparagus, F2
So, is it really safe?
Leaving foods unrefrigerated for two weeks or more can be disturbing to those who weren't raised with a crock of pickles in the hallway. But U.S. Department of Agriculture research service microbiologist Fred Breidt says properly fermented vegetables are actually safer than raw vegetables, which might have been exposed to pathogens like E. coli on the farm.
"With fermented products there is no safety concern. I can flat-out say that. The reason is the lactic acid bacteria that carry out the fermentation are the world's best killers of other bacteria," says Breidt, who works at a lab at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, where scientists have been studying fermented and other pickled foods since the 1930s.
Breidt adds that fermented vegetables, for which there are no documented cases of food-borne illness, are safer for novices to make than canned vegetables. Pressurized canning creates an anaerobic environment that increases the risk of deadly botulism, particularly with low-acid foods.
Sterilizing jars or crocks for sauerkraut or pickles is optional. It's OK to simply wash the jars in hot, sudsy water. Make sure that the food is completely submerged in the brine - some recipes call for weighting down the vegetables. Earthenware pickle crocks from Germany, such as Harsch brand, are designed to keep oxygen out but allow the undesirable carbon dioxide to escape. Canning jars work fine, too.
- Tara Duggan
Wine pairings
High acid food is a challenge to pair with wine. Add tangy or sour flavors - with or without spices and sweetness - and you're looking at a probable train wreck. Fermented food can encompass all these, and when eaten on its own - can be particularly unfriendly to wine.
When used in a dish, for example sauerkraut atop a hot dog or combined with an Alsatian choucroute garnie's rich sausage, the kraut's sour tang is toned down by protein and fat.
If wine is a must, you will most likely need very snappy acidity, though mineral hints might also be beneficial. Try a dry Austrian Riesling or Picpoul de Pinet.
Fermented food resources
Alexander Valley Gourmet. Raw sauerkraut and fermented pickles from a Healdsburg company. Widely available in refrigerated sections of Bay Area markets; sauerkraut is $5 for 32 ounces. alvalgourmet.com
Critter Salon and Studio for Urban Culture. Both organize fermentation and canning workshops and events. crittersalon.blogspot.com and studioforurbanprojects.org
Cultured. Pickle shop is located at 800 Bancroft Way (entrance on Fifth Street), Berkeley; (510) 540-5185 or culturedpickleshop.com. Open 9 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays. Products are also available at Tuesday and Saturday Berkeley farmers' markets. Sauerkraut ($8.69 for 16 ounces) is sold at local markets such as Whole Foods, Rainbow Grocery and Berkeley Bowl.
Farmhouse Culture. Sauerkraut available at Saturday Sunnyvale farmers' market and Sunday Palo Alto farmers' market for $6-$7 (with $1 refundable deposit on containers). At Santa Cruz Whole Foods markets; coming soon to Bay Area locations. farmhouseculture.com
La Cocina. Hosts cooking classes in San Francisco's Mission district, occasionally on food preservation. lacocinasf.org
Locavores. Resources for eating locally. locavores.com
National Center for Home Food Preservation. Canning guidelines and safety tips. uga.edu/nchfp
Three Stone Hearth. Offers food prepared according to the Weston Price nutritional philosophy for online ordering and weekly pickup or delivery at its Berkeley kitchen. threestonehearth.com
Urban Peasant SF. Workshops offer instruction in traditional food preservation methods, handcrafted foods and fermented beverages. urbanpeasantsf.com
Wild Fermentation. Wildfermentation.com lists resources and classes and is an offshoot of the cookbook "Wild Fermentation," by Sandor Ellix Katz (Chelsea Green, 2003).
Fresh Sauerkraut
Makes 3-4 pints
Total time: 2 weeks
This delicious sauerkraut is from Kathryn Lukas, adapted from a recipe in "Nourishing Traditions," by Sally Fallon (NewTrends Publishing, 2001). Lukas' general rule is to use 1.5 percent by weight of salt in proportion to the cabbage. Serve with all kinds of meats and sandwiches, or toss into salads for a crunch and a slight tang.
* 1 medium head green cabbage (about 2 pounds)
* 1 to 2 teaspoons caraway seeds
* 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons coarse sea salt
Instructions: Clean 3 to 4 wide-mouth pint jars and canning lids and rings in sudsy water.
Quarter the cabbage, then remove the core. Reserve 4 flat pieces to top each jar of the kraut. Thinly slice using a large sharp knife, mandoline or food processor.
Place in a large bowl with the caraway and 1 1/2 tablespoons salt and let sit for at least 20 minutes. Squeeze the sauerkraut, while tossing, to help break it down and release juices.
Taste the sauerkraut; it should be very salty. If needed add more salt.
Very tightly pack the sauerkraut into the jars, using a clean fist or a wooden spoon to push the cabbage down as far as it will go. Fill to no more than 1 inch from the top and cover with any juices in the bowl. If there are not enough juices to completely cover the cabbage, add a little bit of water. Cover each jar with the reserved cabbage leaf, then close the lid tightly.
Place jars on a plate in case they overflow slightly and put in a cool cupboard or pantry; the ideal temperature is 60°-64°. If liquid comes out, open the jars and add a bit more filtered water. Check and taste after 1 week then again after 1 1/2-2 weeks. If it's sour enough for your liking, refrigerate or eat immediately. Or, let sit another week or less to increase the sour flavor. Keep refrigerated.
The calories and other nutrients absorbed from brines vary and are difficult to estimate. Variables include the type of food, brining time and amount of surface area. Therefore, this recipe contains no analysis.
Lacto-fermented Peach Chutney
Makes 1 quart
Total time: 1 1/2-2 1/2 days
This recipe for spicy, fresh chutney is adapted from "Full Moon Feast," by Jessica Prentice (Chelsea Green, 2006). It can also be made with unpeeled chopped tomatoes. It's great with roasted meats or Indian dishes.
* 2 teaspoons fenugreek seeds
* 1/4 cup boiling filtered water
* 8 to 10 peaches, peeled and cut into small dice
* -- Juice of 1 lemon
* 1 tablespoon whole cumin seeds
* 2 teaspoons black or brown mustard seeds
* 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
* 1 4-inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
* 1 teaspoon powdered turmeric or one 1-inch piece fresh turmeric, peeled and grated
* 1 tablespoon Sucanat or rapadura (see Note)
* 1/4 cup yogurt whey (see Note)
* 4 teaspoons sea salt
* 1/4 teaspoon cayenne (optional)
Instructions: Put the fenugreek seeds in a small bowl and pour the boiling water over them. Let them soak overnight or for at least 6 hours.
Put the peach pieces in a large bowl. Drain the water from the fenugreek seeds and add the seeds to the peaches. Squeeze the lemon juice over the peaches.
In a small cast-iron skillet, toast the cumin, mustard and fennel seeds over medium heat until they begin to smell fragrant. Add the seeds to the peaches with the ginger, turmeric, Sucanat, yogurt whey, salt and cayenne. Stir thoroughly and taste. The mixture should be salty.
Transfer to a 2-quart jar and gently weigh down the top of the chutney so the liquid rises above the solids by filling a small, narrow jar with water and setting it inside the other jar so that it gently pushes the chutney down but allows the liquid to come to the top.
Ferment at room temperature at least overnight. If it is hot, 24 hours may be enough. If it is cool or just warm, ferment for 48 hours. Chutney can be eaten immediately or can be refrigerated for up to 1 month.
Note: To make yogurt whey, take 2 cups of live-culture whole milk yogurt and pour it into a colander or strainer lined with cheesecloth set above a bowl or pot. Let drip for up to 8 hours in the refrigerator. The whey will be in the bowl and the yogurt in the cheesecloth can be used like cream cheese.
Sucanat and rapadura are both types of unrefined cane sugar that can be found at natural foods stores such as Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco.
Per 2 tablespoons: 25 calories, 0 protein, 5 g carbohydrate, 0 fat, 0 cholesterol, 268 mg sodium, 1 g fiber.
Brined Snap Beans
Makes 1 gallon
Total time: 2 weeks
More subtle than vinegar-pickled green beans, this recipe is adapted from "Joy of Pickling," by Linda Ziedrich (Harvard Common Press, 1998), who says to use the freshest green beans you can find. Alicia Preston likes to make this recipe with trimmed asparagus as well.
* 2 pounds tender young snap beans, trimmed
* 6 small dried chile peppers
* 6 garlic cloves, chopped
* 12 black peppercorns, crushed
* 6 dill sprigs
* 1/2 cup pickling salt or 3/4 cup kosher salt
* 3 quarts water
Instructions: Layer beans, chile peppers, garlic, peppercorns and dill in a 1-gallon jar. Dissolve salt in the water and pour enough brine over the beans to cover them. Push a freezer bag into the mouth of the jar and pour the remaining brine into the bag. Seal the bag. Store at room temperature with the top of the container loosely covered.
Within 3 days you should see tiny bubbles rising. If scum forms on top of the brine, skim it off daily and rinse off the brine bag.
Pickles should be ready in about 2 weeks, when the bubbling has stopped and the beans taste sour. Remove brine bag, skim off any scum, and cap the jar. Refrigerate.
The calories and other nutrients absorbed from brines vary and are difficult to estimate. Variables include the type of food, brining time and amount of surface area. Therefore, this recipe contains no analysis.
Dongchimi (Young Radish Kimchi)
Makes 3 quarts
Total time: 2-3 days
This recipe is adapted from "A Korean Mother's Cooking Notes," by Chang Sun-Young (Ewha Womans University Press, 1997). This kimchi is traditionally a winter dish but has become popular in the summertime when the brining liquid is served with cooked somen noodles. Roasted salt and Korean radish is available at Korean grocery stores; look for the young ones measuring about 4 inches with the leaves still attached.
* 3 bundles Korean white radishes (9 radishes)
* 3 tablespoons roasted salt
* 3 tablespoons sugar
* 1 bunch green onions
* 1 large clove garlic, thinly sliced
* 1 knob of ginger similar in size to the garlic clove, peeled and thinly sliced
Instructions: Clean radishes under cold running water, making sure to remove any dirt between the radish and the leaves. Using a small paring knife, cut off any hairy roots and any yellow leaves. Do not peel the entire radish or the liquid will become too milky.
In a small bowl, mix 1 1/2 tablespoons roasted salt with 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar. In a large container, place a layer of the washed radishes and sprinkle with some of the salt and sugar mixture. Repeat this step until all of the radishes are in the container. Top with the slices of garlic and ginger. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 24 hours.
The next day, bring 6 cups of water with remaining roasted salt and sugar to a boil. After the sugar and salt is dissolved, remove from heat and while the water is still warm (about 100°), pour it over the radishes. Once the water is cool, cover the container and leave at room temperature for 1 to 2 days to ferment.
After 1 to 2 days, store dongchimi in the refrigerator. When ready to serve, peel the radish and cut into 1/4 inch thick, bite-size portions. Also, cut the leaves to bite size and serve with the radish and plenty of liquid.
The calories and other nutrients absorbed from brines vary and are difficult to estimate. Variables include the type of food, brining time and amount of surface area. Therefore, this recipe contains no analysis.
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I have made sauerkraut quite a few times. The last bread I made involved fermentation
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