Tag Archives: lacto-fermentation

I Got Culture!

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Sorry, we do not have any more free culture.

yoghurt-kefir-raspberries

This is yoghurt and Kefir made from frozen raw milk. Making your own yoghurt and Kefir will save money plus reduce your waste stream by using reusable glass jars. My family really enjoys yoghurt so I always make 2L of yoghurt at a time.

I have had a number of emails over the months about dairy and water Kefir. Kefir originated in the Caucasus Mountains and is a gelatinous community of bacteria and yeast. Kefir grains are the real thing. They are different from the “direct set cultures” you will find in health food stores which lose their potency and must be purchased again. Once you get the Kefir grains they will continue to grow indefinitely as long as the culture is fed.

I received my dairy and water Kefir grains from Real Kefir Grains. You can order directly from Marilyn Jarzembski, better known as the Kefir Lady, and she will ship it to you at a very reasonable price. Her culture is very vigorous. If you live in or near Kamloops, you can come and pick up your Kefir grains from me for free. Just email me to ensure I have enough to share. I get my Yoghurt Starter from Custom Probiotics which also has a line of probiotics. If you have never made yoghurt before please read To Heat or Not To Heat: A Yogurt Question.

These are the cultures I have to share:
1. Wild sour dough culture (sour dough bread, biscuits, pancakes, etc)
2. Lacto-fermentation liquid (sauerkraut, pickles, kimchi, etc)
3. Dairy Kefir (yoghurt-like drink, Kefir cheese, Kefir bread, etc)
4. Yoghurt culture
5. Water Kefir

cherry-kefir

This is a Kefir drink made with frozen organic cherries we picked ourselves last summer and frozen raw milk from our cow. It’s wonderful knowing where my family’s food comes from.

Updated December 21, 2009: I am enjoying the ease of using the new Weston A Price Foundation website. I found this favorite essay about Kvass and Kombucha: Gift From Russia by Sally Fallon.

Updated May 8, 2010: I have just started my first Kefir of the year with Patty’s raw milk. Sarah Pope is the WAPF Chapter Leader for Tampa, Fl. She has a video on how to make Milk Kefir and Healthy Water Kefir Sodas. Sarah outlines some really good reasons why Kefir may be a better choice than yoghurt. Here is her video on Making Sauerkraut and Apricot Butter. Please note you can make the apricot butter “more raw” by pouring very hot water over the dried apricots and letting them sit until soft.

Updated May 30, 2010: I have found another source of cultures. If you are looking for cultures please see Cultures for Health.

Updated October 12, 2010: Custom Probiotics produces a high quality, extremely potent probiotic for adults and children. The probiotics appear to be expensive, but having such a high potency makes the products very affordable. The products are extremely pure, without additives or fillers, which is very good for people on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. These are the two blends I have used: Yogurt Starter Formula Two and the Six Strain Custom Probiotic Blend.

Updated November 24, 2012: Maureen Lefebvre is a co-leader for the Weston A Price Foundation Kamloops Chapter. If you are looking for free kombucha scoby please contact Maureen at 250.573.6017. For more information about making kombucha please see How to Make Homemade Kombucha.

Updated January 22, 2015: The WAPF Kamloops Chapter has closed. Please contact Cultures for Health if you are looking for cultures.

Lacto-Fermented Horseradish Dill Pickles

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pickles-eggs

There is nothing like the tangy favor of traditional fermented pickles and cabbage. I know it seems strange with breakfast but fermented foods are a great way to start the day.

I have been asked for my recipe for Horseradish Dill Pickles. This time of year pickling cucumbers are everywhere and very cheap. Just make sure the cucumbers, garlic and herbs have not been sprayed. If they have been sprayed the fermentation will not occur. This recipe is very easy for someone new to fermentation. The horseradish leaf was traditionally used to keep the pickles crunchy longer. Eat the pickles within two months, which is easy because they are so good, or they start to get soft.

Equipment
1 gallon fermentation crock or glass container with lid
1 stoneware or glass saucer that can fit into the container
1 granite rock that can fit into the container

Ingredients
5 pounds un-sprayed or organic pickling cucumbers
1 large horseradish leaf
4 whole garlic cloves
2 large dill tops with flower or seed head
2T sea salt
3c fresh water to cover
1/4c juice from another culture (optional)

Put horseradish leaf, dill flower head and garlic cloves into the crock or glass container. Tightly fit in as many cucumbers as possible. Leave some space at the top for the saucer and rock. Mix up 2T of sea salt and about three cups of fresh water. Pour sea salt solution over cucumbers. Add extra water if necessary to completely cover cucumbers. Place saucer on top of the cucumbers and weigh down the saucer with the rock. Place in a warm spot in your kitchen. Bubbling should start within a day or two. The pickles will be ready in about a week. Store in the fridge.

You can speed up the process by use the fermentation juice from another culture you liked the taste of. Using a culture you like will give a consistent product. Some health food stores sell live culture pickles and sour kraut. You will find these products stored in the fridge. This culture can be used to start your own culture. If you cannot find live culture, I would be happy to supply anyone with starter culture.

Just remember wild fermentation requires no starter culture at all. Our kitchens are full of local spores which will inoculate your cucumbers. Lactobacillus is ubiquitous and present on all un-sprayed vegetables and fruit. It just takes a few days longer for the fermentation process to get going.

Update August 9, 2009: I get my un-sprayed pickling cucumbers and other vegetables from Liz Lyne at 250.578.8266. She grows fabulous pickling cucumbers and gave me the tip about horseradish leaf making pickles stay crunchy longer. She is at the Kamloops Farmer’s Market on Saturdays.

Wild Fermentation

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I had a request for information about lacto-fermentation. Before there were freezers or canning your great grandmother preserved food with fermentation. Fermentation was a magical event that the Greeks called alchemy, the art of transformation.

Wild Fermentation

This is great book for the person seriously interested in learning the art of fermentation.

I would recommend two books to read before starting to make fermented foods: Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon and Wild Fermentation by Sandor Ellis Katz. A third book to read if you are interested in lacto-fermented drinks is Full Moon Feast: Food and the Hunger for Connection by Jessica Prentice. Here are three links that will get you going with lacto-fermentation:
1. This is a primer by Sally Fallon on Lacto-Fermentation.
2. This is a link to Sandor Ellis Katz’s website about how to make Traditional Sour Pickles.
3. If pickles aren’t your thing, and you were thinking about something sweet, Charles Eisenstein will introduce you to Traditional Sodas, a healthy alternative to soft drinks. This essay is a very good introduction to artisan food production. I would like to see small groups of like minded individuals coming together in community cottage industry to produce these commercially unavailable traditional foods.

If you would like to start rather than read about it, go to your kitchen and we will do some magic!
Simple Sour Kraut
Equipment
1 glass container with lid
1 glass saucer that can fit into glass container
1 small round granite rock that can fit into glass container
1 wooden mallet or spoon
Ingredients
1 large un-sprayed/organic cabbage
1T sea salt

Find a large mason jar or any glass container with a lid. Find a small glass saucer that can fit into the glass container. (I do not feel comfortable using plastic.) Go into your garden and find a small round granite rock. Shred and core one large un-sprayed cabbage. Make sure the cabbage has not been sprayed or the fermentation will not occur. Add one tablespoon of sea salt to the shredded cabbage and put it into the jar. Don’t worry if you have too much. More cabbage than you would think possible will go into the jar by the end of the process. Pound down the cabbage with a wooden mallet or spoon. Let the cabbage stand for 30 minutes.

The water from the cabbage will start to come out. Add and pound down more cabbage. Leave another 30 minutes. In the end, there should be about 1″ of cabbage water over the cabbage. Place the saucer over the cabbage and weigh it down with the granite rock. Any cabbage at the surface of the liquid will rot so remove any pieces. Cover and put in a warm place. Bubbling should start in a day or so. Everyday take a peek and watch the mystery of life unfold in your kitchen. Try the cabbage in about a week. After the cabbage becomes as sour as you like, refrigerate the sour kraut. Eat with meats for better digestion.

This process must have been very mysterious for our ancestors. It is mysterious for me!

Update August 8, 2009: I have just found a new website on lacto-fermented food. The website has recipes, lots of photos, radio links, and short postings on food safety. I hope you enjoy www.awesomepickle.com.

Specific Carbohydrate Diet: Common Problems

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The Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) has a number of problems associated with the diet. Even though most people feel great on the diet, they have problems staying with the program long term. I hope this posting will help newcomers to the diet overcome these common pitfalls.

The SCD restricts all processed foods and food additives. This in itself can make a big change in a person’s health. The number of chemical additives put in processed foods has increased at an alarming rate in the last 50 years. There is a great amount of controversy about the safety of these additives. Nevertheless, these additives are everywhere. Avoiding additives means avoiding all processed food and any food produced in a standard restaurant. To the sensitive person even a minute amount of the problem substance can cause great damage.

The SCD is not necessarily a low carbohydrate diet but compared to the Standard American Diet (SAD) it will be lower in fiber and carbohydrates. Grains, legumes and beans are by far the greatest source of indigestible fiber and carbohydrates in a healthy person’s diet. By removing these foods and changing nothing else, your diet will become lower in fiber and carbohydrate.

1. The Crash Landing is constipation. A vast majority of the volume of a healthy bowel movement is bacteria, not indigestible fiber. Constipation that is caused by the reduction of dietary fiber is a symptom of gut dysbiosis. Gut dysbiosis is a lack of healthy intestinal bacteria. There are a number of ways to increase gut flora. Start by introducing lacto-fermented foods and drinks into your daily diet. This is a very inexpensive way to get probiotics and will solve the problem for most people. If whole, fermented foods do not work within a month or two consider trying therapeutic probiotics.

You might be wondering why I am not recommending eating supplemental fiber. Fiber is good for us, right? I would suggest reading Fiber Menace by Konstantin Monastyrsky and coming to your own decision on the safety of fiber. It is a funny book that will make you forever look at the contents of your toilet in a new way.

2. Carb Addiction is a common symptom that will appear from nowhere. When a person starts the SCD there will be a sudden reduction of the person’s normal carbohydrate load. This reduction of carbohydrates will induce an unbelievably strong force which will drive a craving to eat the very foods that are likely to be causing the problem. The person’s “gut flora” will be calling for their feeding of carbohydrate using the “gut brain”. The gut brain is very primitive part of our nervous system. It is completely nonverbal, causes action without higher thinking, and is the powerful force behind craving and addiction.

The gut brain cannot be controlled. The only way is to live through the “die-off” of the bacterial strains causing the addictive behavior. The die-off can take a week or a month. It is horrible to live through but there is a world on the other side without craving and addiction.

Carb addiction is a symptom of gut dysbiosis and gut flora imbalance. Carb addiction is the beginning of the long road to diabetes. If a person has a problem with yeast infections, hypoglycemia or diabetes, it would be wise to go low-carbohydrate with the SCD. Please see Life Without Bread for a low-carbohydrate protocol that works with over 90% of people.

3. Eating Out is very challenging. High end restaurants that make all the food in-house might be safe. I still have to be very careful and I never know if the waiter has transmitted the information to the kitchen. I have heard of people who do a lot of traveling making up a business card with their dietary restrictions. Generally, I do not eat out. When I am traveling I bring my own food in a cooler and have a bin full of dried food. I eat my dried stores and shop at local grocery stores for fresh foods.

The SCD will cause social and family problems. The people who love me are just happy to see me well again. They help make the diet easier by their acceptance. Not everyone will be as supportive. It is my responsibility to take care of myself and do what is necessary. What I put in my mouth is completely under my control. No amount of pressure from the outside can change that fact. Just watch out for the “gut brain”!