Exploring Fermentation
I grew up loving anything fermented, one of my childhood favourites is my grandma’s pickled baby eggplants. In the recent years I've been exploring fermentation on my own. I'm sure if you follow me on Instagram you would have seen the journeys I’ve been on. From the sauerkraut saga in London, to the many attempts of sourdough. Honestly nothing feels more satisfying than the moment I get to taste the fermented foods after a long, long time of being patient.
When I started fermenting foods it was just another cooking skill I wanted to learn. I didn’t realise the love and passion I would end up growing for it. Everything I see, the first thing that comes to mind is —I wonder how that would taste fermented? At first it was more about the taste of the fermented foods than the health benefits. But I truly believe that food is medicine and with all the amazing benefits of fermented foods, how could you not give it a try! Fermented foods promotes the growth of probiotics, the good bacteria. It improves your digestive and heart health, boosts your immunity system, helps clear your skin and can help prevent numerous diseases.
My personal favourites are Kombucha, Water Kefir, Sauerkraut and Sourdough Bread. If you don’t want to make your own fermented foods, I really suggest making the swap to sourdough bread. Besides the amazing flavour you get from it, the health benefits of eating sourdough over bleached white commercial toast bread is a no brainer. Especially if you have sensitivity to commercial bread. Sourdough bread is taken through a long fermenting process where it naturally produces nutrients like iron, zinc, magnesium, antioxidants, folic acid and other vitamins, and the gluten is pre-digested (pre-broken-down, before consumption). Which when eaten as soon as the sourdough hits your stomach, it breaks down quickly to aid digestion.
All you need to get started is a glass jar and a cheese cloth or tea towel, to start fermenting something basic! If you’re interested in exploring fermentation and looking for other resources, other than myself here are a few of my favourites:
Bon Appétit: It’s Alive with Brad Leone —very entertaining and educational
Jessie Ferments —for all the inspiration for flavour combinations
Book: The Art of Fermentation - Sandor Katz —an in-depth exploration of fermentation
Fermentation Workshops —with fermented foods being very trendy in the wellness world, you should be able to find a workshop near you. Go join a group activity, meet new people with similar interests. It’s a great way to make new friends as an adult.
If you want to see any of my fermentations and future ones, they are all documented on my Instagram stories. If you want to see me ferment something in particular let me know! Now I’m off to look for a new hobby to explore, any suggestions?
A series —Finding New Passions:
