As a parent of small children who are homebound during the pandemic, I am giddily excited about any project that checks multiple boxes on my to-do list—especially those related to food, education, entertainment, and household chores. My most recent effort has been home vegetable fermentation, and it’s been surprisingly fun. We’ve tried cabbage, carrots, and cauliflower so far. Our three year old calls these “fizzy vegetables,” and he eats them.
Fermentation is an interesting project under ordinary circumstances, and there are several classic books available through The Seattle Public Library that explain the science behind this ancient food preservation technique. The e-books in this list talk the reader through how to ferment foods safely, discusses the range of materials you can use from around your house, and offer recipes and tips.
Fermentation is also a downright practical thing to learn right now. When fresh food is unevenly available, you can buy extra of something and preserve it without tying up valuable freezer space. There are all kinds of special crocks, weights, and airlocks available for purchase, but what I’ve learned from the library is that all you really need for basic fermentation is salt, water, a jar, some inexpensive vegetables, and any means of keeping your vegetables submerged in the jar for an extended period of time.
We have packed our vegetables in repurposed jam jars, then kept the vegetables submerged by first covering them with a cabbage leaf and then weighting that down with a plastic Ziploc bag filled with salt water. Lacking any fancy spices, we have experimented with garlic, turmeric, and other things already in our cupboard. The results have been varied and delicious—but if a given batch seems odd at all, you can just throw it out and cheaply start again. After all, this is food science and in science a negative result is just as valuable as a positive one! We learn from both.
You can ferment fish and meats, and the books in the list above get into that, too, but I have yet to become so adventurous. If you’ve done this, or have any tips or recipes you’d be willing to share, we’d love to hear about them.
~ posted by Anne C.
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