DIY: Fermentation in Preparation for Spring
Go green by brining your veggies.
As winter drags on and before the spring farmers markets begin, try your hand at creating fermented foods–it’s a great entry into the more elaborate process of canning and making sauces and jams. Chopping vegetables, stuffing them into jars filled with brine and letting it sit in the kitchen for a few days to ferment is an unusual sort of food preparation in contrast to our frying, baking, and sautéingin a battle to rid our foods of bacteria immediately and efficiently. The process of fermentation, involves the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohols and bacteria, as vegetables pickle, becoming crunchy and juicy in the brine. Fermenting foods is fragrant, colorful; and the jar can develop a foamy crust. The waning weeks of winter are an …
