The Essential Book of Fermentation (38 page)

1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger

2 teaspoons sea salt or pickling salt

3 tablespoons whey (or substitute 1 more teaspoon salt)

1.
In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients together and set the bowl aside for 30 minutes.

2.
Using a wooden pounder or potato masher, pound the carrot mixture for 5 minutes so the vegetables release their juices.

3.
Place the contents of the bowl into a quart canning jar and press down firmly so the carrots are covered by juice. Add filtered water to just cover the carrots if needed. Leave 1 inch of headspace between the top of the juice and the top of the jar.

4.
Place a single sheet of paper towel over the jar and screw on the band that holds the jar’s metal lid.

5.
Set the jar on a warm kitchen counter for 3 days if using whey or 5 days if using only salt. Check the jar each day and remove any scum that rises; keeping the vegetables submerged will prevent any spoilage. Then cover the jar with a metal jar lid before placing it in the fridge, where it will keep for 3 to 4 weeks.

Sauerkraut

Cabbage, like many of the cole crops (its cruciferous relatives in the plant world), grows well in cool weather, which is why it was grown extensively across northern Europe and the northern tier of the United States in the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries, before refrigeration. Winter closes in fast in these cold regions, and hard freezes would destroy the cabbages that provided farmers with greens and vitamin C during the long, freezing months.

And so those farmers learned to do a simple trick—brine their cabbage until the vegetable was fermented and stabilized, whereupon the cabbage would last just fine in cold storage during the winter. When some was needed for the table, it was just fished out of the crock and the lid replaced. As we now know, cabbage is a wonderfully nutritious food, providing vitamin C and other essential nutrients, protecting the human body against diseases like cancer, and the lactobacilli that colonize the sauerkraut release bound-up nutritive factors in the cabbage—sauerkraut contains twenty times more bioavailable vitamin C than raw cabbage—and for the human gut.

Sauerkraut
is a German word meaning “sour herb,” and when the huge influx of Germans came to America in the late seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries, they brought their sauerkraut—or the knowledge of how to make it—with them. Other Americans, too, have a long history with sauerkraut, not only in German enclaves like Cincinnati, Milwaukee, eastern Pennsylvania, and even Yorkville on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, but among the general population, where the all-American hot dog is often loaded with kraut.

The beautiful part is that it always has been and continues to be a snap to make at home. This recipe is from Austin Durant of San Diego, founder of the Fermenters Club (www.fermentersclub.com). For your first batch, you may want to try it without any additions other than cabbage and brine and see how you like it.

Makes 4 quarts

5 pounds (2 or 3 heads) cabbage

3 tablespoons sea salt or pickling salt (non-iodized)

1 teaspoon caraway seeds (optional)

½ teaspoon juniper berries (optional)

1.
Remove just the outer leaves of the cabbage and slice the heads in half through the core. Using a sharp knife or a mandoline, slice shreds off the core, but not the core itself. Discard the cores when finished. You can also remove the cores before slicing.

2.
Place the shredded cabbage in a large bowl. As you add handfuls, sprinkle the cabbage with a little salt and the spices, if desired. When all the cabbage is shredded and in the bowl, add the remaining salt and spices.

3.
Using your hands, toss, squeeze, pound, crunch, and massage the cabbage for about 10 minutes, until the shreds grow limp and the cabbage juices start to run. As the cabbage turns limp and juicy, use a wooden mallet or pounder to finish the cabbage for the last 3 or 4 minutes.

4.
Place the cabbage in a small ceramic crock or wide-mouth 1-gallon glass jar. Place a plate that fits in the crock or jar on top of the cabbage and press down hard to work any air bubbles out of the cabbage.

5.
Weigh down the plate with a gallon jug of water or with zip-top freezer bags filled with brine. (Freezer bags can leak, and if your bag does, then it will only add more brine rather than diluting the ferment with plain water.) Place the bag unsealed on the plate with the seal up so it spreads to cover the plate and any juice showing between the plate and crock. Then seal it. The juice should completely cover the cabbage. If there’s not enough juice to cover the cabbage, put a little extra brine in the crock or jar until the cabbage is entirely under the liquid.

6.
Cover the crock or jar with a clean dish towel held in place with a rubber band and store it in a place that ideally is between 70 and 75ºF.

7.
Check the crock or jar after a couple of days and every few days after that. It will start to ferment (bubble) after a few days. If you see any mold growing on the surface of the liquid, remove the weight bags or jug and the plate, and skim off as much as you can. Don’t worry, the sauerkraut is safe as long as it’s submerged under the brine. Just get as much scum or mold off the liquid as you can and replace the plate, weight, and towel. The kraut will improve in flavor over the next month or two. If you find it exactly at the place you like it, pack the kraut into canning jars with brine to cover and store them in the fridge, where it will last for several months as long as the kraut is covered with brine. Rinse the kraut to remove salt before serving if you wish.

German Apples and Kraut

What goes with a big helping of roast pork? Applesauce, sauerkraut, and potato pancakes, especially if your heritage is German. Two of these constituents can be fermented together—with glorious results: apples and cabbage. Here’s how.

Makes 2 quarts

1 medium head ball cabbage, shredded

1 teaspoon sea salt or pickling salt (non-iodized)

2 firm apples, peeled, cored, and shredded

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

1.
In a large bowl, combine the shredded cabbage and salt. Work the salt through the cabbage, massaging the shreds for 5 to 10 minutes, until the cabbage juice runs. Add the shredded apples and ginger and then massage again for a minute to incorporate.

2.
Pack the kraut into a small crock or glass or ceramic bowl and place a plate on top. Set a quart canning jar filled with water and with its lid screwed on as a weight on the plate. If there’s not enough juice to cover the cabbage, add just a bit of water until the cabbage is covered. Cover the crock or bowl with a clean dish towel.

3.
Place the kraut container in a warm place—70 to 75ºF is ideal—for a week, checking daily to skim any foam from the top and removing the weight and plate and stirring the kraut 2 or 3 times during the week.

4.
Strain the kraut, reserving the juices in a bowl.

5.
Pack the apples and sauerkraut into quart glass canning jars, adding enough of the reserved juice to keep the kraut wet, and store in the fridge. The kraut lasts for 2 to 3 weeks.

Escabeche

Escabeche is a Spanish and Provençal dish of poached or fried fish in a spicy-hot marinade, usually served cold as an appetizer. Here we’re forgoing the fish and making pickled peppers fermented by our friends the lactobacilli. It’s meant to be fiery hot, used as a condiment on tacos, over meats or fish, on sandwiches, or whenever some real heat is needed to brighten up a dish. When working with fiery-hot peppers, it’s a good idea to use clean plastic kitchen gloves and wash them off thoroughly when you’re finished.

Makes about 2 quarts

4 cups thinly (¼ inch) sliced seeded hot and sweet peppers of your choice (see Note)

4 carrots, peeled and sliced on the diagonal into ¼-inch ovals

6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

½ medium onion, cut stem end to root end, then sliced into half rounds with the rings separated

1 tablespoon black peppercorns

1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano

2 tablespoons sea salt or pickling salt

1.
Sterilize 3 quart-size canning jars, lids, and bands in boiling water for 10 minutes.

2.
Place all the ingredients in a large bowl. Mix thoroughly using gloved hands and set the bowl aside for 20 to 30 minutes.

3.
Toss the mixture again. Fill the jars one by one with the mixture until you have about ½ inch headspace. Press the mixture firmly into the jars. You may not need the third jar. If you do need it and it’s not full, don’t worry; the vegetables will be safe as long as they are submerged.

4.
With the vegetables packed in tightly, add filtered or spring water to each jar to just cover the vegetables. Poke down the mixture with a wooden chopstick to get out any air bubbles, put on the lids and bands, and screw down until you meet resistance, but not tightly. Set these on the kitchen counter for three days, then tighten the lids and store them in the fridge for up to 6 to 8 weeks.

NOTE:
Make half the peppers hot ones like jalapeños, serranos, Thai bird peppers, and habaneros (if you can stand the vicious heat). Use any sweet pepper you like, but for best flavor, make sure they are ripe—red, yellow, or orange, not green. The Anaheim chile, with its mild spiciness, is ideal as a substitute for sweet peppers.