Fermenting on the road

It has been 10 weeks tomorrow that we have been on the road.  There are lots of things we have changed about the way we are living however there are a few that have remained the same …. my ferments are some of these.  I was determined to keep up my kombucha and milk kefir on the road and so far so good.  It felt so good having this practice continue that I have even tried to do another batch of sauerkraut.

The large kombucha jar simply gets a screw top lid put on it and placed in a cupboard with ‘non-slip’ matting on the bottom whenever we travel.  When we arrive at our destination  out it comes, the lid is taken off and on the bench top it is left.  Easy as!  I did notice though that after a week or so the kombucha didn’t taste as sweet as my usual batches however soon I realised that where it was sitting never got sunlight on it, as it did in our house.  My solution?   I simply try to get it into the sun for a bit each day (when I remember) and it seems to be back to its usual sweet, fizzy self.  I usually only leave it for a week before creating another batch and apart from judging cooling time for the tea before adding to the SCOBY. The SCOBY is incredibly healthy and continues to grow happily, thankfully.  I have given loads away and still had to pop this big bit (see photo) in the compost today.

Another Sunday and a fresh batch of Kombucha on the go

The kefir grains, which I use in Rice Milk, are much easier.  They are transferred into fresh milk daily as I consume the fizzy goodness for breakfast.  The other equipment needed is a clean jar (I have 2 in total to swap), a plastic spoon and the milk.  Once again they are simply popped into a drawer with the cups when we travel and then brought out onto the bench while we are parked.  I think they would be my favourite ferment for ease of making (without thought involved) and also that I get to enjoy it everyday without running out.

Finally my sauerkraut.  We came onto the bus with a jar just freshly opened, so that lasted us for most of the 10 weeks however when that came to an end I had to either justify storing an empty jar or fill it.  I decided on the latter.  As we had found some fresh, homegrown radishes in a road side stall I decided to create a radish, cabbage and carrot version.  It is the first time I have used radishes and I’m hoping for a kimchi taste (fingers crossed!).  The process of preparing the vegetables, while very messy and harder to clean up when you are trying to converse the water you have, was straight forward enough and I was feeling very pleased with my self as I packed it tightly into the jar.

Into the cupboard it went … out of sight and out of mind.  Well that was until we next stopped and I realized that my sauerkraut had been jiggled around so much that it had seeped out in all directions as it fermented away.  I have had this happen before at home when I didn’t have a tight seal on the jar or there isn’t enough room for ferment to do its thing.  So after a lot of cleaning up and double bagging the jar we are all set.  Time will tell on the taste and I will have to remember to be less enthusiastic with the amounts of vegetables I am preparing next time to avoid a repeat performance!

Bagged up and ready for fermenting

Well that is it for now … just a wee insight into domestic life on the bus. 🙂 Until next time.  I hope this finds you enjoying your own little rituals

Arohanui

Y

www.becominghealthy.co.nz

Ferment on this….

Strange as it may seem sauerkraut has always intrigued me. Maybe it was because it was food form another country, maybe it was because of how it sounded or maybe it was just because living here in NZ (and never having tried it) it seemed exciting and new. Like I said strange I know!! However that intrigue did sow a bit of a seed to learn more about this mysterious food.

I had not idea that sauerkraut was in fact fermented cabbage nor that fermentation has been around for centuries as a way of preserving food and maintaining a healthy system.  It wasn’t until recently that these revelations came as I began to hear more and more about fermentation and the benefits of it.  As with many things in my life I have to hear and see them repeatedly before I am called to action. Fermentation was no different.  Friends were getting right into it and letting me know the benefits however it all felt a bit too hard for me, ‘the lazy, non foodie’ that I consider myself to be.  Even though I loved the taste of sauerkraut from the get go, I was reluctant to go further than sampling.

I did however go so far (after an e-mail with a friend) as to purchase a few books on the subject.  Both (Wild Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz and Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon) were great;  I just still didn’t feel confident in giving it a go.  Luckily for me one of these friends lives locally and also runs home fermentation classes. Yay!! Finally I was able to go and see the process in action, ask questions and dispel my fears of creating some toxic, fermented concoction with which I would poison my family rather than nourish them. The workshop was fantastic and it awakened in me a desire to get fermenting and improving my family’s health with real foods.

Traditionally used as a way to make food last, fermentation is when an organism uses sugar for energy without using oxygen at the same time.  The process not only preserves (as mentioned) it also enhances the nutritional value of the food.  Fermented foods are rich in vitamin B12, they aid digestion, support the immune system, have hundreds (if not thousands) of good bacteria for our bodies and give us a wider variety of foods with which to nourish our bodies.  All sorts of cultures and countries have used the process for thousands of years.  It is only in relatively recent times, when we had refrigeration to keep food, that we have let these practices go.  Fortunately there seems to be a growing awareness as to its benefits and a growing amount of people ‘having a go’.

After being given a SCOBY ( Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria and Yeast) I now have a big jar of Kombucha on the go. Sauerkraut will be the next thing as soon as I hit the shops and then, after we return form a weekend away, it will be sourdough time.  Until the course I didn’t think that I had tried fermentation at all. Then I understood that my attempts at yoghurt and making rewena (Máori Bread) for Matariki both used the process of fermentation. See I told you I was a ‘non foodie’ :). Anyway with Matariki less than 2 weeks away and my Kombucha in the making it looks like I will be busy fermenting for the next wee while.  I’ll keep you posted as to my progress, of that you can be sure!

Hope this finds you happy and healthy, ‘fermenting’ your thoughts about good food.

Arohanui

Y

www.becominghealthy.co.nz