Fermenting foods, why it’s amazing for your health and how to get started

Health and the digestive tract

If you have any interest in healthy foods and a healthy body, you’ll know that it all starts with your digestive tract and the quality of the bacteria living there. Basically, having the right kind of bacteria prevents having the wrong ones, and the right ones will support you in all of the most important ways. They give you an appetite for more healthy foods, support digestion and enable you to take more energy and nutrients from your food. Absolutely most of our diseases start in the digestive tract and with poor digestion and a bad gut bacteria. So, putting some effort in growing the right kinds of bacteria right there inside of you is actually really worth it!

Where the inspiration came from

A few weeks back I read an amazing book by a Dutch author, Daan de Wit, called ‘Weet wat je eet’. It’s not been translated to English, but the title means something like ‘be aware of what you eat’. He has done massive and thorough research into food and what is and what isn’t really healthy for us, using insights from all over the globe and research results from long ago as well as the most recent ones, putting it together in a very comprehensive and practical way. Many of his conclusions were not new for me. For example, I’m already aware of carbohydrates and how we tend to eat them a lot while they really do more harm than good. And I’ve known about the importance of real, unprocessed foods, and have adjusted my eating patterns to that. On the other hand, some of his points were rather new to me – like the importance of eating the right kind of fats, how much fatty foods you actually need and how they affect our bodies. Most importantly, his whole book was just an amazing inspiration, like all these pieces of a puzzle coming together, combining things I had heard before about what is and what isn’t healthy and giving me very practical points to work with to improve my eating habits. Being sure about what really matters and makes a difference for my bodies health got me inspired to put in the extra time and energy, and among the things I’ve been working on lately one of the most important is: fermenting foods.

Fermentation

You may or may not be aware that many of the foods we eat, carry the enzymes and the right microbes for us to digest that same food. This will be especially true for high quality foods, from organic or biodynamic farming – unprocessed and not mistreated with chemicals and additives. It is because of these enzymes and microbes that a lot of foods have all it takes within themselves to start the process of fermentation. Put together some rye flour and water and nothing else (a little attention and stirring) is required – you’ll have your own sourdough! Chop up some veggies, add some quality salt (with as many minerals as you have available) and water and leave nature to do its work – fermentation is on its way! So fermenting foods is really easy. Yes, you need to work hygienically and yes, you need quality products to start with, and yes, you’ll need some patience. But all of those are important anyways, right? And when it comes to fermenting foods, these simple ingredients will give you such amazing health benefits that it is absolutely worth your while.

So what does the process of fermentation do for you? First, it starts the process of digestion of that particular food even before you eat it. Once it gets to your digestive tract, due to digestion being well on its way, it has become very easy for your body to take out those beneficial nutrients. Digesting the food takes less energy and has a higher return rate. Next, the process of fermentation actually increases the levels of vitamins and all the beneficial stuff your body craves in the product that is being fermented. And third, eating fermented foods brings a ton of those good, best quality bacteria into your digestive tract. I’ve already said a bit about the importance of the right bacteria in the top of this post, if you want to know some more you could check out this cool video done by Kurzgesagt:

Red Cabbage fermenting recipe

So getting down to the actual process of fermenting your veggies. Today I prepared a red cabbage, it's nicely sitting on the shelf behind me doing its work. There’s an organic farm where we go for raw milk and best tasty eggs from happy chickens and great quality vegetables. I picked up this beautiful cabbage from there. It’s important to use organic products for fermentation, because they’ll carry more of the right bacteria required for fermentation, and also because you don’t want chemicals and pesticides to ruin your project.

Many vegetables are suited for fermenting, but I definitely have my own favorites. I loved the cauliflower we tried, and the zucchini did well. But the red cabbage has been best, because of great taste and because of it being so easy to combine with other ingredients and can be added as a side dish or even as part of a recipe to really complement any meal. Also, cabbage in general and red cabbage in particular has amazing qualities, so many healthy nutrients that you’d want to eat it daily. Except that cabbage can be quite hard on our digestion if it is eaten raw and looses those qualities when it is (over)cooked. The fermentation process makes this otherwise tough veggie so soft and nourishing and gentle, without loosing out on any of its health benefits.

So next step in preparing your veggie for fermentation, is cutting it up. Save the outer leaves of the cabbage, you can use them for closing off the top of your jar(s). All the rest of the cabbage, shred it up nice and fine. Make sure to use a big bowl to collect your cut up cabbage, because just one cabbage gets you a whole lot of volume.

Even though everything required for fermentation is right there in your vegetable itself, we do add one thing to get the process started: salt. The salt helps extract water from the vegetable. The vegetable should be covered in water at all times to prevent the wrong kind of bacteria from growing, the kind that use oxygen and lead to rot. And the salt itself helps to keep out unwanted bacteria. You can add some other things, like herbs, but that is voluntary. In the case of red cabbage I add some fennel seeds, gives a nice extra taste. So add two table spoons of salt (best quality you have around, with a lot of minerals – I like using this Keltic seasalt) and any herbs of your choice, and mix it around. Use your hands to squeeze and press the veggie. Leave it like that for maybe ten minutes and you’ll feel how the cabbage has softened up and is releasing its water. Take a properly cleaned jar (hygiene is important here!) and pack the vegetable inside, as tight as you can. Add some water (filtered, no chemicals but minerals would be good) till all of the vegetable is below the water surface. In case of the red cabbage, use the outer leaves press down the veggie below water level. And now, let time do it’s work!

After a little more than two weeks, the cabbage will probably be ready for consumption, even though a full three weeks gives my favorite taste. For every vegetable, the time required for fermentation can be different. Just have a taste and see if the veggie is now sour tasting and softened and feels easy to digest.

During your waiting time, make sure the veggies stay below water surface and also that the pressure inside your jar does not build too much. Release some of the air once in a while to make sure your jar doesn’t explode.

In short

So that’s really it! This is a long post I guess, congratulations on reading it all the way to down here ;). And just a quick overview of the steps to fermenting your red cabbage to make things easy:

• Get a nice organic red cabbage, gently wash it
• Remove the outer leaves and save for later
• Shred the cabbage
• Mix with two table spoons of your best salt and any herbs (I like fennel for red cabbage, a tea spoon would be enough) of your choice. While mixing, press and squeeze the cabbage.
• Leave it for a minute or ten, when it feels more soft, pack the cabbage in a clean and air tight jar. Add water till all veggies are covered, finally use the outer cabbage leaves to push the veggies down
• Leave for two to three weeks and your cabbage is done! In meantime, keep an eye on veggies being below water surface (to prevent rot and mold) and don’t let the pressure in your jar build too much!

The above pic shows the red cabbage I packed for fermentation today, and a half empty jar which is now three weeks into fermenting. I put some of it in that little bowl to give you an idea how it looks when done, and wanted to add to my dinner tonight. Instead ended up just eating it as an afternoon snack, that's how much I actually like the taste of it.

So, what’s next?

When your cabbage or veggie is done, check out the taste for yourself and get creative on how to use it in the kitchen. The other day, I made flatbreads (tortilla’s) and guacamole and a spiced dish of beans and sweet corn. We had the fermented red cabbage as extra veggie in the tortilla roll, and I simply loved the taste and texture it added. So definitely mix and match, and if you have any success recipes or great ideas, I would love to hear them!

Then, once you've tasted and become a fan, don't forget to get more vegetables up and running for fermentation. It always takes some time for them to get ready, so set them up in advance!

Thanks!

Thank you so much for reading my post! Upvotes and follows greatly appreciated. And hope you’ll be enjoying your fermented veggies sometime soon!