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Why Ferment?
Fermentation has been around as long as civilization. Cultures of yeasts in high quantities have been found in ceremonial bowls, pottery and on stirring sticks from prehistoric times and it seems each culture has a history of fermentation of some sort.
The question is, why should we ferment in today’s world of high tech?
Food storage is not a problem.
We can buy anything we want online and have it shipped to our door.
We can even eat things which in the past had to be fermented to achieve the desired flavors but now they seem to taste the same without all those nasty micro-organisms floating about.
- Taste
Fermentation changes the flavor of everything.
- A sweet carrot made into pickled carrots loses its sweetness and becomes sour.
- The sugar in grapes is converted to alcohol and becomes more astringent.
- Milk is fermented into kefir, yogurt, and a variety of cheeses.
- Soya beans can be made into a wide variety of foodstuffs through fermentation each of which has a unique taste profile. They range from miso, Tampa, soya sauce and natto.
Then there are pickles which can be made a number of ways from brining to pickling in rice bran. There are books written on the humble pickle which has traditionally been made using fermentation.
Not a fan of fermentation?
Well then you will have to give up leavened breads, tabasco sauce, yogurt, any cheese and all wines or beer.
Fermentation has been used to transform foods from humdrum to flavor sensations for centuries.
Healthy preservation
Fermentation is the safest and most energy saving method of food preservation there is. There is no boiling in water, one time use lids, special additives or other costly equipment.
The food is usually not cooked. This preserves the vitamins, enzymes and produces an environment which naturally prevents spoilage.
Other methods of food preservation require a high level of care to ensure all living things in the preserve are killed to prevent spoilage. This means cooking, boiling and/or the addition of preservation ingredients (the most benign being sugar) during the process of canning.
Improper methods of canning can lead to sickness and even death. If the can is not processed properly you could kill off everything but the spores which cause botulism. Clostridium botulinum, the bacterium which causes botulism, is commonly found in soil and untreated water. The reason it does not normally cause sickness is due to the competing bacteria.
The problem is when there are no other competitors they take over and produce a toxin which in high enough concentrations can cause sickness and death.
During fermentation we encourage the good for your bacteria to grow. It might produce an alcoholic ferment, a tangy lactic acid ferment or an umami ferment depending on the environment we place it in and the food being fermented.
The difference is with fermentation we promote good for you probiotics.
When you place the food in an environment which promotes the growth of healthy bacteria and yeasts the result is a product which maintains its vitamins and usually produces more, some of which we cannot produce ourselves like vitamin B12. Enzymes are also preserved and again new ones are produced through the action of the probiotics which preserve the food.
Today we have access to methods of food preservation which were unavailable in the past. We can freeze things in the summer, cool things in the winter and have fresh fruit and vegetables delivered to us from all over the world.
This is true but did you know the main cause of foodborne illness comes from fresh vegetables?
Since our food comes from all over the world, lettuce from California and strawberries from Peru we do not know how it was grown, harvested, packaged or stored. This has caused the degradation of our food supply.
We can only get maybe three types of tomatoes in the grocery store and all of them have the same bland taste. This is despite the fact that there are thousands of tomato strains which have been developed for all sorts of situations. This is because these few tomato strains look good to the buyer and taste good to the eater.
Apples, lettuce, onions and garlic are all the same. In fact the list is as long as the choices at the store.
Convert inedible foods to edible foods
Fermentation can transform inedible foods into delicious edible ones. Olives are not edible until they are brined for a month or so. The brining (a method of fermentation) reduces the bitter components in an olive.
Those who are lactose intolerant are better able to eat fermented milk products like yogurt and kefir since the culture which makes them uses lactose for energy, naturally reducing the amount of lactose in the milk.
Phytic acid binds with zinc and iron making it unavailable to our digestion. Fermentation reduces the phytates in grains and beans making them easier to digest and making the zinc and iron available.
All types of leavened bread rise because of the yeast acting on the sugars available to it in the dough. This makes carbon dioxide, causing the bread to rise. Leavening was originally accomplished through the use of sourdough starter.
The sourdough starter is basically water and flour mixed together and left to ferment. The natural yeasts in the air and on the flour grow and multiply until it starts to bubble.
The other method is to use packaged yeast. This yeast was first produced by skimming the foam off the top of beer fermentation vats and dehydrating them.
Both methods use fermentation to cause the bread to rise. Each with their own flavor profile.
Added probiotics
We all hear that probiotics are good for you. Health stores promote powders, fermented milks and various other sources of probiotics. Store bought cultures typically have a specific bacterial culture profile which makes the product consistent. This is important for the store as it makes the product more salable.
While probiotic powders have their benefits they are lacking in the natural nutrients needed to get the most out of them. Traditionally fermented foods supply the probiotics as well as the food which the probiotics grow in. This helps them to survive the stomach acid and make it to the small intestine where they have the most beneficial effect.
Fermentation is an easy way to increase your probiotic intake cheaply and with the highest degree of variety.
Shelf stable food products like pickles and sauerkraut do not have probiotics in them. This is because probiotics produce CO2 which if contained will carbonate the product and can burst the container causing spoilage.
The last thing a grocer wants is cans of pickles exploding on the shelves!
For the fun
Fermenting is a creative and learning pursuit. It is great fun to find new and unique recipes to try as well as creating your own.
Currently there are thousands of recipes online for sauerkraut alone, one of the most basic of ferments. Just think of the variety of things you could make right now in your fridge.
Chutney is another great source of experimentation. It can be made with anything, usually a mixture of sweet fruits like mango and/or pineapple, onions, nuts and seeds. The spices range from traditional cumin and coriander to hot cyanine. Why not try a recipe or two and then start to develop your own.
The anticipation of adding a variety of ingredients in a fermentation vessel and waiting to see what happens. Tasting it in each stage of the process to see how it has changed.
Since every batch will be a little different it is a constant source variety.
Save money
The ingredients for most fermentations can be found by either some legal foraging, gleaning, growing or if need be can be purchased at a typical grocery store. Whatever your chosen method of finding the base ingredients is up to you but even in the most expensive scenario it is still cheaper to make your own then to purchase them already fermented at the store.
The reason for this is simple economics. The factory which produces ferments needs to buy their ingredients or pay someone to harvest it, pay for the shop costs, power and heating. Once the product is made it must be transported, promoted and stored correctly.
All this costs money.
A bottle of Kombucha costs $3-6 for one bottle. It is made from tea leaves, sugar, water and if you want to make it into a soda you will need some form of flavoring.
When you make your own, each bottle can cost as little as 50 cents. Quite a difference I would say.
Not into kombucha? Fine, how about kefir. Kefir costs $5.00 a bottle but kefir made at home costs the same as milk by volume.
Sauerkraut is made with cabbage and salt. A batch of sauerkraut costs the price per pound of the cabbage.
For the adventure
Have you ever tried fermented salsa, fermented tomato sauce, natto or kimchi?
If not, why not?
They all have unique flavors and textures as well as health benefits all their own.
Try making your own vinegar out of fruit scraps or make some hopped cider or any other fruit (or vegetable) of your choice.
The sky’s the limit.
Why not pick a culture and research what fermentations that culture made.
Some of them like those in temperate zones fermented mainly for food storage. Fermentations like sauerkraut and pickles were mainstays of these cultures.
Others developed products like wine and cheese which intensified and transformed the base food to something completely different.
Each culture has a different method of making and storing their food. This leads to an unending source of inspiration.
I currently have a list of recipes which I want to try.
They include:
- laphet a Burmese dish made by fermenting tea leaves
- kimchi the Korean standard
- Japanese umami plums (which aren’t plums at all)
- saki and rice wine vinegar
To experience some history
History does not have to be a boring subject full of dates and memorized facts.
Instead make it a living experience.
To properly understand our past we must have some perspective on what their lives were like.
What better way to learn history than through our stomachs?
You can make sauerkraut the same way it was made 100, 200 maybe 300 years before. Trace the history of kimchi and try making some from each region you study.
I recently watched a video of how to make sake which is deeply entrenched in Japanese culture. Each step is precise and requires years of study and dedication to perform them in the traditional way, but that shouldn’t stop anyone from trying to make their own sake’. It may not be the highest quality but through the making we can learn about the culture, people, and even some language which we never would have learned before.
With the added benefit of having people over and offering them some of your own sake.
Start Now
As you can see there are many reasons why you should ferment. So get out to your kitchen and start something. Fermentation is not instant food, you can’t just throw it into the micro-fermenter and push go. If you want something fermented today you will have to have started it yesterday. So if you think you will want to have something fermented tomorrow, start something today.
Here is a list of fast one day ferments which will get you started on the road to living a fermented lifestyle.
- Long fermented bread – use modern yeast and let it ferment for 12-14 hour in the fridge
- Kefir – can be made in 24 hours from grains or kefir starter (I recommend finding some grains)
- Yogurt – This is usually a 12 hour ferment but I like to ferment it at least 24
- Potage – soak your oatmeal the night before you are going to make it. Adding a nice tang and digestibility to this traditional breakfast
