Fermentation 101
Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to take a fermentation class at Ellwood Thompson’s, a local grocery store down the street, and learn all about the benefits and the process of fermentation. Who knew it had so many health benefits?
Dawn Story, the woman behind Farmstead Ferments brought in tons of fermented products, and showed us exactly how thing are made, including her delicious kraut, kefir soda, and kimchi.
According to Dawn and the folks at Farmstead Ferments, fermented foods offer tons of benefits:
While there are many techniques for putting food by—including canning, freezing and drying—fermentation is one of the simplest methods for preserving food and has the added benefit of actually making food more nutritious and more digestible. These zesty and robust foods are loaded with live enzymes and are probiotic, meaning they contain a plethora of beneficial microorganisms necessary for proper digestion and assimilation of food. That is why ferments are traditionally served alongside meats and heavier foods as a digestive aid (think sausage and kraut, pickled ginger and seafood). Ferments are high in vitamins and minerals, most notably Vitamin C, and are said to be anticarcinogenic.
While I’m not sure I buy into everything I’ve heard about fermentation, it does seem like a great way to preserve fresh produce, and create some deliciously healthy meals. I think the part that surprised me the most was learning that things like kraut and kimchi aren’t canned in vinegar, like pickles. They’re actually just fermented in water and salt.
My favorite, was definitely the Kimchi, which Dawn makes by hand, using local (if possible) ingredients.It had a nice blend of spices which really gave it a good kick. We ended up buying a few jars from Ellwoods, and adding it into a stir fry of brown rice, egg whites, bell peppers, and yellow squash. It was a simple but delicious dinner. (This stuff was also delicious straight from the jar.) I also enjoyed trying the kefir sodas, which reminded me a little bit of kombucha, although it’s actually just a fermented water, flavored with things like apples, or persimmons. It’s interesting how it gets the “soda” type of effervescence, without actually being carbonated. It would be a great lower-sugar alternative to soda.
I love fermented foods! In fact, I’d like to try doing more of it on my own instead of relying on the store-bought products, but haven’t gotten around to it yet.
I feel like I’ve tried a lot of different foods, especially for someone my age, but I’ve never tried sauerkraut or kimchi! definitely need to get on that.
Hi Jess! Do you like really spicy food? If so, I suggest that you try it from a Korean restaurant or a Korean grocery store because they taste like your momma made them, and the ones at American stores aren’t as fresh and they’re not as good as the real stuff in my opinion. Unless you maybe get it from Whole Foods, then it’s probably fresh since everything there is well stocked. 🙂
I totally thought of you this morning….for breakfast I had a piece of toast w/ some peanut butter and kimchi on top. It did sound gross when she said that but I gave it a try. AWESOME. I even packed kimchi in my lunch today. I can’t get enough, haha!
I frickin’ LOVE anything fermented. When I made ‘kraut for the first time, I was also shocked that it wasn’t a ‘pickle.’ It’s crazy weird–and potentially scary for your innards when you think about it–that you just set it on a shelf and let it rock and roll. [Much like kombucha–another love, obviously.] I’m pretty sure germophobes or hypchondriacs couldn’t handle fermented foods if they thought long and hard about it. Tempeh is fermented, too, and I LOVE that.
I’m super jealous of this class! They need to do one here in Charlottesville. 🙂
I love kombucha, and have actually made it before, but other than that, I don’t get too adventurous with fermented foods. I always want to try them, but I see them on the shelf at the grocery store and I just wuss out.
Super interesting, Liz, thanks for sharing! I had no idea that fermentation was considered to be even healthier (in some instances) than canning and freeze-drying. Very cool!
Cool! I like beer; that’s fermented… haha I like kraut but have yet to try kefir soda, and kimchi.
That counts 😉 I’d highly recommend trying kimchi!
I really want to make my own sauerkraut soon – I LOVE IT. I used to make my own yogurt as well and it’s super easy. Love Kimichi too 🙂
I really want to try making my own yogurt! I think that would be so cool!
yes we have done kraut, kombucha, and yogurt. love it, just a moment in our lives that we are too busy to make them. hopefully soon we will start up again
I dated a chef for a while who ate Kimchi like it was going out of style, really. I smelled it once and couldn’t bring myself to try it, but that was before I became a total foodie! I’d love to try more fermented foods now. What a cool class to take!
Hahaha it definitely has an intense smell!