Last night, in the Fiser home, Lisa Lipe taught a workshop on fermentation. It was fabulous! Everyone sampled, went home with samples and cultures, and learned so much.Below: tasting lacto-fermented kimchi and sauerkraut.
Lisa's son, Josh was a great helper. Below he is pounding cabbage for the sauerkraut demonstration.
Examples of lacto-fermentation: LtoR - kimchi, garlic, pickles. The gadget on top of the gallon of pickles is an airlock device. It allows air to escape the jar without letting air or new bacteria inside. Lisa has these for sale if you'd like one. [realfoodlisa AT gmail DOT com] I learned two tips for crispy pickles. One is to soak the cucumbers in an ice bath for several hours prior to fermenting, the other is to add a couple of oak leaves to the bottom of the jar.
Lisa, in red, demonstrating how to strain milk kefir grains. The dark bottles in the foreground have kombucha in them. Lisa also taught about that fermented drink.
She also made lacto-fermented mayonnaise with a stick blender. The keys to yummy, healthy mayo are pastured eggs and good oil. Lisa used eggs from her backyard and olive oil from Chaffin Family Orchards. In coming days, Lisa will share her recipe for mayonnaise. Everyone loved it.
One of the participants, Nancy (wearing glasses) brought enough water kefir grains to share! I was super excited. :)
How fun! I want to go to a party like this! I'm loving my lacto-fermented mayonnaise (I make mine with coconut oil). Its so good!
ReplyDeleteI haven't tried coconut oil, but have heard of using it. How do you keep it from turning solid in the refrigerator?
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't get completely solid in the refrigerator. When it's cold, it has the same texture and look as frosting. You can still spread it easily. I let mine sit out for 30 minutes before using it.
ReplyDeleteWould you happen to know if you can ferment without dairy? We do pickles & saurkraut but I'd like to try kefir especially. I'd like to also do Kimbucho tea but I can't locate a starter around me. Do you know if it can be made from a store bought one?
ReplyDeleteHoney
www.mondorfment.blogspot.com
Honey,
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I completely understand your question. You can do vegetable ferments using starters other than whey from dairy. Body Ecology has starters. I have also used the liquid from Bubbies sauerkraut as a starter or the liquid from a previous ferment.
You can make water kefir, instead of or in addition to dairy kefir.
I have heard that you can grow a culture from a store bought bottle of kombucha tea, but I have not tried it. If you live in the LR area, there are WAPF chapter members who would be glad to share a kombucha culture. Email me directly and I can help with that. realfoodlisa AT gmail DOT com