2013: The Year of the Ferment

By Anais on January 25, 2013 • ( 0 )

I’ve decided to subtitle 2013 The Year of the Ferment. This makes sense to me as my current drill down into diet, food, aging, brain function and overall health has led me to place fermented foods at the top of my focus.

I grew up in a very small town in rural Washington state. Many of the residents of my hometown were of German descent so our food and social gatherings often included kraut, homemade wurst and other ethnic delicacies. We were served sauerkraut for school lunches. I remember the smell!

I’ve been blazing a hot trail of ferment since the beginning of 2013. I made kraut and gave it out as Christmas presents – a bow on top making it a colorful gift. (See pics on Facebook.) I’ve made fermented vegetable juice (cabbage, carrot, ginger), coconut milk kefir, and kraut delight (cabbage and extras.) And things are changing in my inner ecosystem! It’s been my goal. And it is a continuing and life-long process, no doubt about that.

Here are some of the resources I am using — some have been on my shelves for a long time, some are new.

– Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon & Mary Enig
– Wild Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz
– Making Sauerkraut and Pickled Vegetables at Home by Klaus Kaufmann, DSc & Annelies Schöneck
– Truly Cultured by Nancy Lee Bentley
– The Body Ecology Diet by Donna Gates
– The Baby Boomer Diet by Donna Gates

I have also made krauts in a few different types of vessels: Harsch Fermenting Crock Pot, Pickle, Sauerkraut and Kimchi Maker from Mike Snyder at therawdiet.com, and in Mason or Ball canning jars (see article by Nancy Lee Bently at Mercola.com; suggest downloading the transcript of Dr. Mercola’s interview with Caroline Barringer.)

So onward and upward with the ferment in 2013. Live and learn!