What are Lacto-Fermented Foods?
You may not know it but if you are here you have probably already made a few lacto-lermented foods. Cheese, yogurt, kefir, beer, and wine are lacto-fermented foods. Surprise!
Once you have produced your lacto-fermented fruits and veggies they may be canned in a hot water bath or a pressure canner to keep even longer.
A note by Sally Fallon:
Lactic acid is a natural preservative that inhibits putrefying bacteria. Starches and sugars in vegetables and fruits are converted into lactic acid by the many species of lactic-acid-producing bacteria. These lactobacilli are ubiquitous, present on the surface of all living things and especially numerous on leaves and roots of plants growing in or near the ground. Man needs only to learn the techniques for controlling and encouraging their proliferation to put them to his own use, just as he has learned to put certain yeasts to use in converting the sugars in grape juice to alcohol in wine.
Adding a small amount of homemade whey to each jar of vegetables or fruit to ensure consistently satisfactory results. Whey supplies lactobacilli and acts as an inoculant.
It easy to make naturally fermented condiments at home. You don't even have to have any special equipment. Usually, fruits or vegetables are first cut or grated. Sometimes, they are mixed with herbs or spices. Then, they are pounded a little bit to release their juices and mixed with a solution of salt
water before being put into air-tight containers. The salt prevents any
putrefying bacteria from developing for several days until enough lactic acid is
produced to keep them preserved for months. You can use less or no salt if you add whey to the jar. Whey is rich in lactobacilli and reduces the time it takes to ensure preservation.
Be sure to close the jars very tightly. Lacto-fermentation is an anaerobic process and the presence of oxygen, once fermentation has begun, will ruin the final product.
The only way to be really sure that something doesn't have botulism is with an accurate pH reading. 4.0 is the magic number. If you are below that, you are safe. I don't find pH strips to be accurate enough to trust my life with it, so unless you have access to a pH meter... I say, if you're nervous about it, compost it and start again. And, generally, if something tastes good, I trust it, and, if it tastes bad, I don't. But there are those confusing "intense" tastes, which, over time, I find myself trusting-and even enjoying-more and more!
Sally Fallon is the author of Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats
