The Preservationist

The Preservationist Fermented: Sauerkraut and Pickles

By Jordan Champagne

Making sauerkraut, kimchee and pickles is a great way to play with spring’s tender vegetables. It is also a good way to brush up on your preserving skills while the mountains summer fruits are mere ideas in the world—just blossoms and seeds—and have yet to come raining down upon us.

Spring is the time of year when vegetables are king. The beets, carrots and other root crops have had a chance to nestle into winter’s cold, damp earth and slowly grow into juicy, tender roots.

Fermenting vegetables and other food is the only way to actually increase nutritional value while preserving it. It is also a way to really eat locally because we foster the live cultures and promote cooperation with visible and invisible life that surrounds us. This is the real local biodiversity.

Fermentation is the safest way to preserve food because muchfeared botulism cannot create its dangerous byproduct in the aerobic environment of fermented foods.

Fermented foods are delicious, nutritious, safe and easy—a great introduction to preserving foods. My absolute fermentation hero, Sandor Katz, just wrote a new book on fermented foods titled The Art of Fermentation. It’s due out in May, just in time for when you really get into it.

In the meantime, the farmers are ramping up for the spring plantings, which will bleed into the busy summer harvest. These recipes will help you ramp up your skills.

Jordan Champagne is the co-owner and founder of Happy Girl Kitchen Co. She has a passion for preserving the local, organic harvest and loves sharing the secrets she has unearthed. She teaches preservation workshops at the company’s café in Pacific Grove.

Recipes: Please see p. 22 and 23.

Happy Girl Kitchen Co. • 173 Central Ave., Pacific Grove 831.373.4475 • www.happygirlkitchen.com

Courtesy of Jordan Champagne, Happy Girl Kitchen Co.

Makes 1 gallon Sauerkraut is easy to make. We just need to create the right conditions, and the microorganisms do the rest. You will be rewarded with crunchy, tangy golden kraut to enliven your spring.

5 pounds cabbage 3 tablespoons sea salt 1 tablespoon juniper berries (optional) Optional: carrots, Brussels sprouts, turnips, beets, burdock root, apples, raisins Suggested spices: caraway seeds, celery seeds, garlic

Chop cabbage into a large bowl, coarsely or fine, however you like.

Sprinkle on the sea salt now and then. Mix the cabbage and salt (and juniper berries, if desired) together to distribute the salt evenly. The salt pulls water out of the cabbage and creates a brine in which the cabbage (and other vegetables) can ferment without rotting or softening. Note on salt: Use only non-iodized salt, such as sea salt and unchlorinated water, as these chemicals inhibit the growth of microorganisms.

Pack into a vessel. Tightly push and pack the cabbage down using your hands or a kitchen tool, forcing as much air out as comfortable and encouraging the cabbage to release its juices. Note on fermenting vessel: Many folks use earthenware crocks for making kraut as the wide mouth gives easy access for tamping and cleaning. Other suggested vessels are wide-mouthed glass jars, stainless steel pots or food-grade plastic buckets (which are all much lighter than crocks).

Cover kraut with a plate or other lid that covers the surface snuggly. Place a weight on the cover to help force out the air and keep the kraut submerged under the brine. A glass jar filled with water or a plastic bag filled with salt brine all work well. Secure a breathable cloth over the container to keep out debris.

Press down on the cabbage over the next few hours to force out water. It may take 24 hours for the brine to rise above the level of the chopped cabbage. Add a salt water solution (1 tablespoon sea salt completely dissolved in 1 cup water) as needed to cover the cabbage if, after a day, it remains high and dry.

Let fermentation happen. Put the vessel in a cool spot. Check on your kraut every day or two to skim off any surface scum, which is just an aerobic phenomenon where the developing kraut has come into contact with air—don’t worry about it. The kraut below the surface is unaffected and fine. Rinse off your cover and weight to discourage the surface mold.

Start tasting the kraut. It will be fully fermented in 2 to 4 weeks at 70° to 75° F or 5 to 6 weeks at 60° F. The air bubbles you see rising to the surface, a result of our busy microbe buddies, will become slower and eventually cease after the kraut is fully fermented.

Eat the kraut. You can begin eating the young kraut any time to enjoy the evolving flavor as it matures over several weeks. Remember to replace the clean weight on top, adding brine to keep it covered.

Store and start some more before it’s gone. Pack the kraut tightly in jars and store covered in the fridge for several weeks (or longer). Eventually, it softens, and the flavor turns less bright. Rinse the crock, repack it with fresh salted cabbage and add some old kraut to get your new batch started with active cultures!

Mixed Garden Bouquet

Courtesy of Jordan Champagne, Happy Girl Kitchen Co.

There are many names for a mixed pickle, from Pickle Lilly to chow chow. This recipe is for a fresh mixed pickle, which is easy and safe and a great introduction to pickling. You can experiment with any combination of fresh vegetables and spices you desire or highlight whatever may be abundant at the moment. I always toss in a few beet slices to add great color to whatever I am pickling and some chili to spice it up. Keep in mind that you will be cooking all of the vegetables together in one jar, so pay attention to how thickly you slice them.

Cauliflower (separated into small florets) Beets (quartered and sliced 1/4-inch thick) Carrots (quartered and speared) Romanesco (separated and sliced) Cabbage (grated 1/4-inch thick) Onions (in 1/4-inch rounds) Thyme Pickling Spice Blend (or spices of your choice)

Vinegar Brew 12 cups water 8 cups apple cider vinegar 1/4 cup sea salt

Go to the farmers’ market or your own garden and pick the freshest vegetables possible. Chop and prepare vegetables into desired shapes and sizes to fit into your jar of choice. Start with a clean jar and add spices that you desire. Pour the hot vinegar brew over your vegetables and fill to the rim of the jar. You can experiment and make each jar unique using different spices and vegetables. Screw lid on tightly and put in your refrigerator. Let it sit for 2 weeks. It will keep in the refrigerator.