A Curious Space for Cultured Things
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Cucumber kimchi
Take some beers, put them in the fridge and by the time they are chilled, you will have your next kimchi ready to go with them. This cucumber kimchi is really easy and most of all, you can eat it right away (ideally you give it a day or two). Make sure to use young,…
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Zucchini kimchi
If you have kimchi paste at hand, this spring kimchi is ready in no time and so easy. Zucchinis are neutral vegetables acting like little sponges and fermenting quickly, so after only one week this kimchi is ready to eat. Don’t throw out the kimchi juice left in the jar after eating the zucchini, you…
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Savoy cabbage kraut
I love Savoy cabbage. The thick green leaves are so good in winter stews or just thinly sliced and wilted in a good knob of butter. The season is coming to an end so I hurried to make a fermented version, inspired by the one from ‘Fermented vegetables’ from K. Shockey with juniper berries. It…
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Kimchi paste
Kimchi, the soul food of Korea, is rapidly conquering the rest of the world. With good reason. Packed with good nutrients and unique in taste, this fiery ferment has as many recipes as there are kimchi-lovers. I have tried several ways of making kimchi and tweaked a little here and there after reading and eating…
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Fermented squash and sesame dip
The recipe from Cortney Burns fermented squash and sesame dip (Saveur nr. 193) is time-consuming. She is using things like amchoor and onion powder which make up part of the larder at Bar Tartine. I decided to take a short cut and see if this long anticipated dip is as good as it looks, using…
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Lemon-dill kraut
This is an extremely tasty version of the ‘usual sauerkraut’ but with that little extra freshness from the lemon and the dill. The recipe from K. Shockey asks for dried dill, but I felt that I had to do something useful with that big bunch of fresh dill I had in my fridge. I like…
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Lemon Verbena-Kukicha Kombucha
Nearly all kombucha brewers will tell you that tea is, next to cane sugar and filtered water, an indispensable ingredient to make a good kombucha. The quality and the type of tea (Camellia sinensis) you choose are as important as the variety of grapes are to a winemaker. After experimenting for some time with green…
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Beets & Beluga lentil salad with kombucha-vinaigrette
This salad has been a staple through the winter at our lazy Sunday brunches, full of earthy flavours countered by the sweet & sour vinaigrette, the fermented beets and the saltiness of the feta. You can substitute the brined beets with oven-roasted beets if you like. The result will be slightly sweeter. Kombucha-vinaigrette: Ingredients: 200…
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Fermented Topinambur
Topinambur, sunchokes, Jerusalem artichokes, earth apples or sun roots… the names given to this somewhat strange tuber are nothing short of poetic. You can eat them raw or cooked but they turn out surprisingly delicious in a spicy ferment. In ‘Fermented Vegetables’, the recipe indicates to mix the topinambur with fennel. I made this easy…
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Hot Cinnamon Quince Ferment
The Shockeys call quinces ‘badass pears’ in ‘Fiery Ferments’ and although they don’t taste anything like a pear, their perfume is subtle and sweet. They cannot be eaten raw but are surprisingly great in this spicy ferment. Ingredients: 1 large quince, peeled, cored and sliced into small cubes (5×5 mm) zest and juice of half…
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