Lacto-fermentation

Sauerkraut, pickles, and kimchi! All are foods that undergo a process called lacto-fermentation, transforming into a nutritionally enhanced, living food by the power of lactobacilli. Salt, time, and natural processes combine quite simply to create a delicious and very nutritious food that can be stored away for months. These days when people talk about being more connected to food sources, people will talk of the importance of putting food by for the winter. This often refers to the process of canning. For some reason, we associate all kinds of virtues with canning (boiling water, a scalding kitchen, sterilizing everything – yes, very virtuous by most standards). It’s what all those thrifty, heroic women did during the World Wars and the Great Depression to feed their families. It’s what grandma did. It’s what those self-centered feminists didn’t do. So, therefore, it’s gotta be virtuous.
Interestingly enough grandma probably didn’t grow up learning how to can from her mother. She went to a community kitchen, a canning factory, or a school to learn to can. And more than likely grandma didn’t can in her own kitchen, but at a communal kitchen. Canning was a highly industrialized process developed in the early 19th century to feed far traveling imperial armies and international sea-faring explorers (hello, Monsieur Napoleon). It’s a complicated, involved, scientific process, quite different from home-based methods of preservation like lacto-fermentation. Also, unlike lacto-fermentation, it carried the rather weighty risk of botulism (you’d be fucked). Canning never really became a home-based skill. The equipment needed was far too expensive for most families to afford. By the late 19th century people had access to canned foods in their markets, but often did not practice the skill themselves. That was left to the industry. It wasn’t until the World Wars and the Great Depression with intense resource shortages that canning became a somewhat popular skill to pursue in communal kitchens. In fact, we have the home economics movement to thank for it (oh wow, thanks!). The home economics movement headed by Ellen Richards heralded teaching women how to create a hygienic home that would prevent the spread of germs while serving the needs of her family (you can barf, it’s ok. I do when I hear the word “hygiene”). Canning fit the bill perfectly. Everything was sterilized, recipes had to be followed word for word, pH accounted for, and microbes eliminated to safely can foods (umm, needless to say, I sure as hell don’t can). With a growing fear of germs, canning became the most popular preservation method of the mid 20th century (cuz it killed everything!). It was not based in family, tradition, or culture (and really, hopefully family, tradition, and culture aren’t sterile. At least we can hope). It was based in industrial advancement, germ phobia, a growing obsession with hygiene, and a schooling system set up outside the family to serve the purposes of war and economic collapse.
If we were to check in with great-grandma and great-great-grandma we’d find that she probably lacto-fermented (I realize it doesn’t sound as cool to talk about lacto-fermenting on the homefront or victory lacto-fermenting, but regardless it’s fucking cool). Lacto-fermentation is a living process that happens with the help of bacteria (cheese, bread, and beer are also made thanks to bacteria, though different kinds of microscopic living things are at play). With a little salt, water, a moderate temperature, and a little time the lactobacilli proliferates. The process preserves the nutritional value of the food, with the added benefit of additional vitamin C (yay, no scurvy during winter!) and additional beneficial bacteria. Yes, I did say beneficial bacteria. This worldview that in order to be safe everything must be sterile using any antibacterial cleaning agent at hand is somewhat deranged (they make fucking antibacterial shoes these days. What the hell?) You are fucking clean, stop using the damn antibacterial Purell hand sanitizer shit (by the way, their copyrighted phrase is “imagine a touchable world.” you can’t touch the fucking world without hand sanitizer?!). The way lacto-fermentation works is that the bacteria present in the fermented food can fight off any potentially harmful bacteria (canning can’t do this) so it is safe. Even for you, OCD hygiene-oid.
So why would introducing bacteria into your body be good for you? As humans we can credit bacteria with our ability to digest food. That means we survive because those tiny squiggly things help us out. (Bear with me here, I’m gonna get a little nerdy and list some facts, but they are fucking cool facts!) Beneficial bacteria live in our gut, mouth, skin, colon, and vagina. There are somewhere between 500 - 1,000 different species of bacteria in the human body. There are ten times as many bacteria in our bodies than cells. The activity of the bacteria in the gut is equivalent to that of a human organ, the reason behind the gut being called the “forgotten organ.” It is estimated that all together the bacteria in the human body weighs between 2 – 9 pounds (ok, the “did you know that…” part is done). With all this being considered, why would we want to put sterilized food into our bodies? If we eat things because they are “heart healthy” or to cleanse the liver or whatever, then why not eat for the gut! Help populate your body with beneficial bacteria! Apparently, as we become more globalized our microbiota (microbiota used to be called microflora but the scientists felt that was inaccurate since flora refers specifically to plants. I like both words, but microflora makes me think of a human covered with green, viny plant material which is cool, but maybe a little too sci-fi) are also becoming more and more homogenized, losing diverse microbiota specific to particular regions and environments. Certain kinds of human microbiota are at risk of becoming endangered (and let me tell you folks, there isn’t gonna be a list of endangered species for bacteria happening any time soon). However, unlike restoring the bald eagle population to North America, it can be rather simple to guarantee the survival of human microbiota. Just make your own! Heck, give yourself a name – the American Committee for the Restoration of Microbiota (ACRM), Homeland Bacteria, Fuck Hygiene-oids, Inc. It’s as easy as making a crock of sauerkraut!

How I Make Sauerkraut
There might be nothing easier than making sauerkraut.

Ingredients I Use:
one head of cabbage
maybe some beets (I’ve also made a kraut with just grated beets, really tasty!)
a few carrots (if I feel like it)
an onion (if I feel like it)
maybe some herbs like caraway seeds

What I Do:
1) I grate all the vegetables that I want to put in my sauerkraut and put them in a large bowl. As a grate I add a little salt, so each layer of grated veggies has a healthy sprinkling of salt in between. I never measure how much salt I use, but I would guess I use about 3 tablespoons, more or less.

2) One all the veggies are grated and salted, I mix them up with my hands, squeezing the veggies as I go. As I mix and squeeze I start to see more and more water being wrung out of the veggies.

3) Now I pack the veggies into something (glass or food-grade plastic) that will allow them to be compacted. When I am making a lot of sauerkraut I put everything into a bucket and put a plate on top with something to weigh the plate down. I put a pillowcase on top of the bucket to keep bugs away. If I am making smaller batches of sauerkraut I pack it into a quart jar (1 cabbage will fit into a quart jar. It takes some packing, but it will work) and pack it in as much as possible and then screw on the lid. Whatever method I use I just make sure the veggies are totally submerged under the brine. If they are not submerged, I mix salt and water together and pour that over the veggies so they are totally submerged.

4) Now, it just sits. I leave it somewhere in a moderate temperature. I check the sauerkraut once a day. If there is white scum, I scrape it off (it’s not bad if you can’t get it all. I never can get it all so I eat lots of white scum and am totally fine). I rinse off the weight or lid once a day. I start tasting the sauerkraut after 4 – 5 days and it usually starts getting tasty around then. I usually give my sauerkraut anywhere between one week to three weeks. I like to experiment with different tangyness.

5) Once I am satisfied with the taste of the kraut I put it in the fridge. It seems to keep for quite a long time. It is absolutely delicious on a baked potato or on grilled cheese!

How I Make Pickles:
Real pickles are some of the best damn things on earth.

Ingredients I Use:
3 – 4 pounds cucumbers (I have also made zucchini pickles – very good!)
6 tablespoons salt
½ gallon water
3 – 4 tablespoons dill
2 – 3 heads of garlic, peeled
1 handful fresh grape, oak, cherry, or horseradish leaves (for the tannins)
1 pinch peppercorns

What I do:
1) I dissolve the 6 tablespoons of salt in the ½ gallon of water. Sometimes to speed this process, I warm a few cups of that water and dissolve the salt in the smaller batch, then add the salty mixture to the rest of the water.

2) In the crock or bucket I put in dill, garlic, pepper corns, and oak leaves (or other tannin rich leaf – this helps a lot in keeping the pickles crispy!). Then I put in the cukes (or whatever vegetable I’m pickling).

3) I pour the brine over the pickles. If the brine doesn’t cover the pickles I make more brine (at a ration of 1 tablespoon salt per cup of water) so the veggies are totally submerged.

4) I put a plate on top of the pickles and a weight on top of the plate (a jug filled with water works well) and then cover the whole bucket with a pillowcase to keep the bugs away. I keep the crock in a place with a moderate temperature.

5) I check the crock everyday. If there is white scum on top (there probably will be) then I just scrape as much of it off as I can. Each time I check the pickles, I rinse off the weight. After about 4 – 5 days I start to taste the pickles. Usually after a week they will be ready. Sometimes I experiment and let them sit longer, perhaps up to three weeks.

6) Once I am satisfied with the taste I put them in the fridge and enjoy! I don’t really know how long they last because I usually eat them up really fast!

*You can kraut up and pickle all kinds of things. I have made a kraut out of beets and zucchini. I have pickled zucchini slices (there’s a lot of zucchini in August) and radishes with very tasty results. I also love to make a batch of kimchi (a lot like pickles, but with some spicy pizzazz!). I make a brine solution and to that I add grated ginger, garlic, and chili peppers. The veggies I have put in kimchi include sliced eggplant, squash, zucchini, peppers, carrots and radishes. Very tasty!

**Once you have finished your pickles, be sure to hold onto the brine! It makes an excellent and healthful tonic. It’s great for digestion and makes an unparalleled gargle when you have a soar throat. It’s also tasty when added to salad dressings or soup!