Ferment! 'Tis the Season . . . For Sauerkraut!

by Mary

Photo: Tim Sackton on Flickr, CC

When winter sets in, vegetable lovers living at the chillier latitudes have to make a choice. Do we partake of the abundance of produce which has traveled from the far corners of the world to our supermarkets, or do we accept a less diverse selection in order to “Buy Local”? Do we ignore the environmental impacts (from fossil fuel burning) and lower quality of well-traveled vegetables, so that we can eat tomatoes and cucumbers in January? Or do we find creative ways to enjoy the hardy greens and root vegetables that we can buy from our local farmers and store in our basements through the cold months?

As a vegetable grower who feels real pain whenever I try to buy vegetables in a conventional supermarket, I definitely advocate buying local whenever possible and storing up food for the winter. My favorite way to preserve vegetables I've harvested in the fall is through the time-honored process of fermentation. In the context of vegetables, fermentation is the transformation of food by acidifying (lactic acid) bacteria, generally through cultivating the bacteria that naturally occur on the plants. Fermentation has been used to transform and preserve food throughout human history, beginning more than 8000 years ago!

Photo: James Roberts on Flickr, CC

The word “bacteria” has negative connotations for many people, and fear of growing the “wrong” type of bacteria deters many from leaving food out, unrefrigerated, for days or weeks to ferment. But fear not – there are NO documented cases of food-borne illness from fermented vegetables, according to USDA microbiologist Fred Breidt. “With fermented products there is no safety concern. I can flat-out say that. The reason is the lactic acid bacteria that carry out the fermentation are the world’s best killers of other bacteria,” says Breidt. Raw food is more risky than fermented food, since raw vegetables may be contaminated by “bad” bacteria such as E. coli.

In fact, the bacteria in fermented vegetables are actually beneficial to our health. The bacteria that live in the gut are vital for digesting food, absorbing nutrients and, as we're now beginning to understand, for proper immune function and other body processes. Antibiotics and chemicals we're exposed to destroy our beneficial gut bacteria. Fermented foods restore and diversity our “microfauna.”

“Ferment!” reads the hand-penned inscription in my personalized copy of Sandor Katz' book The Art of Fermentation.* Katz is a self-described “fermentation revivalist,” and I was inspired to experiment with fermentation (and buy his book) after attending one of his workshops. His book is a veritable fermentation bible, describing and documenting fermentation of not only vegetables, but also fruit, milk, grains, meat . . . The possibilities are endless! Katz explains the history and processes behind fermentation, but what's most inspiring is his emphasis on how easy it is to successfully ferment food. No complex or detailed recipe is necessary, just an understanding of the basic principles and a willingness to experiment.

Here are Katz' basic instructions for making sauerkraut, a good fermentation for beginners since it's pretty much foolproof:

Photo: Nesson Marshall,  CC

• Chop up a cabbage and any additional vegetables you'd like to add. [I like to mix green and red cabbage, for a nice hot pink sauerkraut, and add shredded beets and carrots.]
• Put the chopped veggies in a large bowl and lightly salt them. Katz doesn't measure the salt, but some sources recommend 1.5 to 2 teaspoons of salt per pound of vegetables. Experiment with the amount of salt until you get the flavor you like.
• Squeeze the veggies for a few minutes, to release their juices. They must be submerged in their own juices for fermentation to work.
• Pack the veggies and their juices tightly into a jar, so that there are no air bubbles in the jar and the veggies are submerged under juice.
• Seal the jar and set it on your kitchen counter or somewhere you can keep an eye on it. Since gases will be produced and pressure will build in the jar, be sure to uncap the jar daily to release the pressure. You may also need to press the veggies down to keep them submerged.
• Start tasting your sauerkraut after 3-5 days. Eat and enjoy, or wait longer is you prefer a stronger, zingier flavor!

My Sauerkraut Set-up: (Top to Bottom) Small jar acts as a weight. Cabbage leaf supports jar and keeps kraut submerged. Plate catches liquid which overflows occasionally during process.

Once you've mastered basic sauerkraut, you can experiment with different vegetables and seasonings, and move on to fermented beverages (like kombucha and kefir), cheese, beans (soy sauce and miso) . . . Katz's book describes recipes for an endless variety of fermentations from all corners of the world, so you can fill your home with all sorts of bubbling concoctions if you really catch the “fermentation bug!”

“Ferment!” You'll feel good knowing that you're transforming and preserving food following a grand tradition that's been practiced throughout history. But also, since every fermentation is different, you'll be creating a tasty and healthful product that's unique to your own kitchen and striking a blow against the distressing trend of food homogenization.

*Sandor Katz, The Art of Fermentation (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2012).