HOW TO FERMENT VEGETABLES AT HOME

In this post I want to talk to you about how to ferment vegetables at home, cabbage, carrots, onions, cucumbers, cauliflower, tomatoes, turnips, any vegetable you can think of, it is a very simple process that we can all do and that can bring great benefits to our diet.

Surely by now you’ve heard of fermentation, but it may seem alien to you and you have not considered that many of the foods you consume daily are fermented.

If the verb ferment resonates in your head as something distant, keep reading and you will see that in reality, it is something everyday, that it has always been around you and that, throughout history, it has been a constant in human nutrition.

Fermenting is a way of transforming a food so that it can be consumed for a much longer period of time.

Therefore, considering that to ferment is to preserve, you can imagine how important this technique has been in the history of humanity.

 

Fermenting vegetables at home is an easy process with great benefits for your health.

 

From ancient Egypt until now, foods have been fermented, it is documented that beer was consumed in Egypt, and that it was an essential food in the diet of the time, (although, obviously, it had nothing to do with what we know today).

There are writings that speak about the use of this technique in the Quin Dynasty, in China, 3rd century BC, and in the Natural History by Pliny the Elder, (year 77), it is told how fermented cabbage was stored in clay containers.

Did you know that one way to avoid scurvy during In the 18th century, during long sea voyages, large quantities of fermented cabbage were shipped to ensure the supply of vegetables to sailors? It was one of the ways they had to ensure a supply of vitamin C during long journeys.

Fermented foods have been a constant throughout history, if we take a look at our past generations, we will see that fermentation has always been present.

 

 

When homes didn’t have refrigerators, when supermarkets stocked with food all year round didn’t exist, when the harvest had to be preserved to have supplies during the harsh winter months, preparing preserves and fermenting foods was common.

 

Fermentation and dehydration are the 2 oldest preservation techniques.

 

Fermentation, along with dehydration, are the two oldest food preservation techniques.

The Romans made wine and fermented fish, the famous garum, a fermented sauce made from fish viscera, which, according to Apicius in his work De Recoquinaria was essential in Roman gastronomy at the time, according to him, it improved the flavor of any other food.

What does that sound like? You could say it performed the same function that monosodium glutamate performs in industry today, but in a much healthier way, of course.

It can be concluded that garum provided the fifth flavor, known as umami, and was a necessary condiment in the gastronomy of that period.

Fermentations such as Bulgarian yogurt, fermented milks, and cheeses in the Middle East are traditional examples of fermentation.

In Christian times, flour was fermented to make bread, and currently the number of fermented foods is increasing, especially due to the nutritional value of this type of food and its enormous health benefits. human.

 

Fermented vegetables provide lactic acid bacteria that are essential for improving our intestinal microbiota.

 

Today, we know for sure that fermented foods are a good source of lactic acid bacteria, which are very beneficial for our intestinal health.

Its benefits are similar to those of consuming probiotics, many of the species found in fermented foods are the same or share physiological traits with the species that improve our intestinal health.

But there are different types of fermented foods, in this post I am emphasizing fermented vegetables, but as we have already seen, all types of foods can be fermented, fish, meat, milk, legumes, cerealsales, etc.

The characteristic of vegetable-based ferments is that when we consume them, we are ingesting live microbes, the same happens with yogurt or kefir.

On the other hand, when we have a glass of wine or a beer, there are no live microorganisms in sourdough bread or tempeh.

Nowadays, we find many recipes for fermented vegetables, perhaps the most famous is sauerkraut, but Korean kimchi (with Chinese cabbage) or atchara in the Philippines (made from green papaya mixed with other vegetables) are also very common.

All three are examples of vegetable fermentations that we can do at home with ease.

 

Learn how to ferment vegetables at home, improve your microbiota and enjoy new flavors.

 

In the supermarket there are many foods that have been fermented, but be careful! In order to be distributed on a large scale and have long expiration dates, they have been pasteurized.

Pasteurization (discovered by Pasteur in the mid-19th century) is a technique that subjects foods to high temperatures for short periods of time to eliminate or reduce pathogens.

This technique was a breakthrough in the food industry and began to be applied to many other products since the beginning of the 20th century. XX and it was a great advance in terms of food safety.

But we are not interested in pasteurized fermented foods, why? because to eliminate those microorganisms that could be harmful and that degrade the food, many beneficial microorganisms are also destroyed.

For this reason, it is better for you to make your own fermented vegetables at home. You will consume all the beneficial bacteria that develop and it is a very safe technique if you follow a series of basic recommendations.

Furthermore, I must tell you that the results are wonderful, both from a nutritional and organoleptic point of view.

And I also want you to know that fermenting is a magnificent way to be yourself, because it gives you freedom, there are no recipes, everything is open and depends on you, you are in control of what you are doing.

You can be right or wrong, but what is certain is that by doing it you will learn.

 

 

How to ferment vegetables:

I’ll tell you now, I’m not an expert, but I’m not afraid to try new things, I’m not afraid to make mistakes, and even more so knowing that the path will lead me to a good place.

Taking into account what I’m going to find, a living, improved food with better properties nutritional and full of beneficial bacteria for my digestive health, there’s no doubt it’s worth it.

Don’t you think that’s reason enough to experiment?

 

If you decide to ferment vegetables at home, start with the easy ones, sauerkraut is a good idea.

 

I started with the simplest, sauerkraut (fermented cabbage), fermenting cabbage is the easiest thing, you only need a good cabbage and a handful of sea salt, yes, they are only 2 ingredients, the rest is given.

To ferment your own vegetables at home you only need some glass jars (there are special ones, but you can use the ones you have or recycle them), filtered water, sea salt (no additives), and if you want, your favorite spices, some garlic, and some lemons or the vegetables you prefer. The combinations of vegetables and spices are up to you, start with simple mixes, don’t try to start from the roof down, remember that less is more, focus on the technique and there will be time to “innovate”. The first time you want to ferment a vegetable, go for sauerkraut, it is very easy to make and there is a good chance that it will turn out well the first time. Afterwards, you can continue fermenting other vegetables.

I love fermenting cherry tomatoes; they give a very special touch to salads. I’m also passionate about fermented onions, both white and red. They change their flavor and become much more digestible.

Carrots acquire more flavor after fermentation, and cauliflower becomes a delicious food. Serve the small fermented flowers as an appetizer and enjoy their crunchy texture.

Try ferment some lemons, and then use them as a condiment. Honestly, I think once you discover how they taste, you won’t be able to stop.

Once fermented, you can use the lemon flesh to flavor your sauces, prepare dressings, and you can also add it to hummus! Don’t you think it’s a good idea? With this simple action, you’ll be adding probiotics and enriching the preparation.

 

Start by fermenting vegetables in isolation and then make your own combinations.

 

What you need:

• Sauerkraut: For a fermentation from scratch, that is, from of cabbage and salt, (what Sandor E. Katz calls Wild Fermentation), you only need some glass jars and some patience, well a lot of patience, the more you have, the better.
• Tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, onion: You need the vegetables, salt and filtered water. Glass jars and once again, patience.
• Kimchi: to prepare a Korean-style kimchee, you need a good cabbage, Chinese if possible, (akusay), turnip, carrot and spring onion with its green part, and a series of ingredients to make the paste, garlic, fresh ginger, chili peppers, etc.

 

 

Fermentation engineering 😉

• Glass jars or ceramic fermentation jars.
• Lids.
• Weights to ensure that the food is always submerged in the fermentation liquid. It is an anaerobic process (
• A cool, dark space (a closet or cupboard at 18ºC-20ºC).

 

Main benefits of fermenting vegetables at home:

• Improves your digestive and intestinal health.
• Increases the diversity of your intestinal microbiota.
• Lactic acid bacteria such as Lactobacillus are beneficial for health.
• If you combine probiotics (Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, for example) and prebiotics (legumes, garlic, leeks, onions, etc.), you will achieve a very healthy.

 

The main objective of this post is to help you learn a little more about fermenting vegetables at home, and to motivate you to try it.

In future posts, I will publish the recipes so you can get started.

Remember that fermenting is life! Good health and a hug.

Francesca.

Related posts:

• Learn How to make easy kimchi.
• The simplest: How to ferment cabbage at home (sauerkraut).
• How to ferment lemons.
• How to ferment cucumbers.

 

If you want more information, I leave you some interesting links:

• https://www.gutmicrobiotaforhealth.com/es/
• https://microbiotica.es/
• https://nutribiota.net/