FALLING FOR FERMENTATION
Half way through my walk in the woods last Saturday, the season shifted. The forecasted afternoon rain showers rode in on a cool autumn wind, which encircled me in a golden, shimmering vortex of falling leaves. That first nip of cold immediately got me thinking of the impending frost in my garden. I may not be capable of raising all of my own food, but the spirit of saving everything I can (can! get it?) is alive and well in me. By the time I arrived home, I was ready to pull my fermentation crock down from it’s high shelf and begin my ritual of fall fermenting.
Of all methods of preserving, lacto-fermentation is the most magical. At its simplest, it is just vegetables and salt. This provides the right conditions for nature to take its course. The salt slows the decomposition of the vegetables briefly until the sugars in the vegetables can be broken down by friendly lactobacilli and converted into lactic acid to preserve the vegetables for many months. In addition to the acids, there are many other delicious and mysterious flavors created as well. You know those deep, funky, primal flavors that you can’t quite put your finger on where they come from? They are the result of fermentation. Exquisite cheeses, the best charcuterie, beer, wine, vanilla, chocolate, soy and fish sauces, miso, and more - all are the result of billions of micro-organisms doing the work of preserving and flavor building for us. And for me, what makes fermentation such a rewarding and enchanting process, is that element of alchemical change, where I’m a steward of the process but also just along for the ride. You never really know exactly what you are going to get with wild fermentation.
There is nothing new about the process of fermentation (traditional cultures, primarily women, all over the world practiced this ancient preservation method), but it is exciting that science has recently recognized the nutritional benefits of fermented foods, which promote a healthy gut, aid digestion, and increase immunity. This is truly an about-face because science largely spent the hundred years or so devaluing this traditional knowledge while promoting sterilization, pasteurization, and the idea that bacteria was to be eliminated. Remember these things and the thousands of years of demonstrated food safety that fermentation offers when you approach these recipes!
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