I love teaching fermentation workshops and answering the many questions attendees ask me. I’ve tried to address most of them below but may have missed one or two. If you have a burning question about fermentation that I haven’t included, please ask away and I’ll do my best to answer. This post focuses on vegetable […]
cultures
Simple Kimchi
How important is kimchi to Korean cuisine? Well, Koreans eat 1.5 million pounds of it every year, the Korean stock market’s “kimchi index” tracks the prices of kimchi ingredients and when Korea sent its first astronaut to the International Space Station, it sent kimchi along with him too—after spending millions researching and developing a recipe suitable […]
Two Spring Webinars: Sourdough Starter and Ginger Beer
I have scheduled two webinars for the spring—one on May 3rd and one on June 7th. Both take place at 4pm Pacific Time. If you can’t attend these, you can watch the recorded webinars later. If you attend, however, you can ask me questions in real time using the chat window next to the live […]
Olive and Preserved Lemon Spread
I’m not sure what to call this appetizer… I have been eating my preserved lemons with Indian food—lentil dal and channa masala—and decided I should branch out and perhaps make something more Mediterranean. How delicious would preserved lemons taste in a tapenade-like spread? Very, it turns out. Although tapenade recipes vary—some call for anchovies, others […]
Preserved Lemons
If you prefer your food bland, skip this blog post. Until now, when I made preserved lemons in the past, honestly, I struggled to use up an entire jar. Classically, you use preserved lemons in chicken tagine but we don’t eat much chicken. They go well with fish but we eat little fish. You can […]
Why and How to Make Sauerkraut and Krautchi
Click here to jump to the recipe I recently overhauled my website and a couple of my fermentation lesson plans went missing. Oops! I like to refer my students to these after class in case they have questions. Fortunately I found this one on fermented sauerkraut and krautchi. If you want to get healthy in 2017, feed […]
Garlic-Dill Pickles
For pickles, fermentation was the primary means of preservation until the 1940s, when direct acidification and pasteurization of cucumber pickles was introduced. — The Art of Fermentation Store bought pickles may taste good but to render them shelf-stable, food manufacturers pasteurize the cucumbers in vinegar. On the plus side, they last forever. On the down […]
Garlic-Dill Sauerkraut
I have converted several self-professed haters of sauerkraut with this garlic-dill blend. It tastes just like dill pickles. And almost everyone likes dill pickles, including kids. People who tell me they hate sauerkraut often also say they want to like it because of the many health benefits that lacto-fermented foods such as sauerkraut offer. Fermented sauerkraut: Is […]
How Does Fermentation Prevent Food Waste?
Today I taught a fermentation workshop at CVSan in Castro Valley as part of the organization’s Commitment to Serve Week. The theme of the week is zero-waste. It was so much fun! (Thank you Jordan, Naomi and all the staff at CVSan.) But what does fermentation have to do with food waste? Well, I’ve decided […]
Kitchen Science for Kids: Sourdough Starter Lesson Plan
If kids are more in touch with the natural world, they will feel less inclined to destroy it as adults. While I do believe kids need to play outside in nature, they can also learn about entire ecosystems right in their kitchens, using only a handful of basic ingredients. Any of the fermented recipes I have posted […]
Kombucha Barbecue Sauce and a SCOBY Hotel
Click here to jump to the recipe This summer I felt like I had a part-time job brewing kombucha. In the heat and unusual humidity, I had to brew and bottle every four days or even every three! I love kombucha but can (and should) drink only so much. If you need a break from […]