Take this with a Grain of (Himalayan) Salt

 Remember in the last post, I told you I was working on a little project? Well, I'm hoping that this little project will someday become a big project, but for right now, let me tell you about my newest hobby/obsession. 

I have begun to ferment vegetables. I'm doing something called lactic-acid fermentation, an ancient form of preservation. Freezing and canning are both ways to preserve your fresh produce, but both cause a loss of flavor, texture, and most importantly, vitamins and minerals. Fermenting vegetables not only preserves the nutrients, it actually makes them easier for our bodies to absorb!

Fun facts about fermenting:

    It not only preserves, but enhances B and C vitamins

    It makes nutrients more readily available

    It aids in digestion

    There are no chemical preservatives involved

    It helps support the immune system

To begin this undertaking, I needed to learn about what exactly was going on inside the crock. This gets a little "sciencey" (just made that word up), but it's a pretty simple process. You see, all fresh fruits and vegetables are covered in microorganisms, which is not a bad thing. They come from everywhere; the plant surface, soil, air, water. Some are bad, some good. It's not just bacteria, but also molds and yeasts. Everything is just there, hanging out, until the plant is harvested. Then the race against time begins, because the microorganisms are clinging to where the plant is cut, or anywhere it may have gotten bruised or damaged. All these little buggers are just waiting for their turn to alter the vegetables. What fermenting does is choose the good bacteria over the bad stuff. It allows the lactic-acid forming bacteria to take over. And how, you may ask, do we promote this good bacteria? What is the magic formula?

SALT.

Ok, you can go home now. I told you the secret. 

But seriously, how cool is it that just a little salt can preserve vegetables and maintain all of their nutritive value? Here's how it works.

Salt draws the juices out of the vegetable's cells, creating the all-important brine. The brine is the key here. Lactic-acid bacteria are anaerobic, which means they don't need oxygen. By working under brine, they can do their magic without any of the other oxygen-needing bacteria being able to get involved. 

Salt hardens the pectin in the cells of vegetables, helping to keep the crispness.

Salt inhibits the growth of yeasts, which will break down the sugars in vegetables into alcohol instead of lactic acid. No boozy beans for us!

For our purposes, we want salt that is as untouched and unrefined as possible. I use Himalayan salt. 

Science lesson is over for today. Now, I'm going to show you my first project. Sauerkraut. Never, in my life, did I think I would get so excited about fermented cabbage, but DANG, it's good. I am now eating kraut every day, and can't wait to try more varieties. I love the looks I get when I tell people I ate a tomato and kraut sandwich for lunch. 

Kraut is shredded cabbage and salt, pounded together, and packed into a crock to ferment. Seriously, you just slice down the cabbage, mix it with salt, pound on it, and the juices start to flow. Pack it in your crock, cover it with some cleaned whole cabbage leaves, called a "primary follower", then a secondary follower (could be a plate) and weight. I have a ceramic weight, and also sometimes use a zippy bag filled with water as weight. Cover loosely with a dishcloth, and set somewhere cool and dark. Check daily. Make sure there is enough brine to keep it completely covered, or the bad bacteria can get in. 

Woot, there it is! There are other details, but I'm not here trying to teach you to do your own fermenting. I'm here to tell you that I'm going to attempt to start a little home business. I have the name picked out any everything. I'll tell you in a few days. Meanwhile, enjoy the pictures of my kraut experience. 

Tomorrow, we will learn about brine fermentation, and I'll show you my pickles!

 

A Little Perspective on the State of the Food World

 It's been a really long time since I've really wanted to sit down and write. Let's see what the litany of excuses are THIS time:

I spent the past year (during Covid) opening a restaurant as the executive chef. We started out gangbusters in the summer of '20, then the shutdowns began. We survived the winter, and came back stronger than ever in the spring, but because of some physical limitations, and a smattering of other factors, I decided it was in my best interest to step off the line. I'm currently walking dogs with my wife, Lisa, and her business, Animalhouse Services. 

One of those physical issues was a very painful, arthritic left thumb and wrist. I'm a lefty, so that kind of sucks. I am currently wearing a brace as I type. As my father always says, "getting old is not for sissies". 

I promise to do better. Start cooking at home again. Take pictures. Share recipes. All that fun blog stuff. But right now, I need to get some of what is careening around my brain down on paper. This past year has given me even more perspective into the fragility of life. Between the pandemic, the chaos of the presidential election, the insurrection on January 6th, and now, the ransomware hacks, my level of existential dread has gone through the roof. I see hatred, division, greed and judgement everywhere. I'm trying to figure out how to navigate this world of random mask rules. I mean, I'm still wearing my mask in stores. I don't understand how people can truly believe that vaccines are a government plot. And I won't even go there with the dude who thinks he's still president. 

I want to talk about the precarious state of the global food supply chain, all the way from the farm/ocean/processing facility to our plates. Just a little light chitchat on a Sunday afternoon. Having just been responsible for sourcing, pricing and ordering all of the supplies for a restaurant, I have had more of an inside track as to what is going on. And of course you are all aware of the dearth of restaurant and hospitality employees. So much of it can be blamed on Covid. There is no stop along the supply chain that isn't affected. Let's pick something: crabmeat. Yes, we know that, no matter where it comes from, jumbo crabmeat is always expensive. And of course, it's supply and demand. Try to wrap your head around how many pounds/tons of crabmeat a hotel or large restaurant chain would buy, all across the world. Most of them would have a contract with the supply companies to buy it up in advance. Then, the rest of the world gets next. Now, throw in a pandemic. Watermen all over the world get sick; can't fish. Less crabs caught. Crabmeat shortage. Prices triple in less than a week. Restaurant owners need to decide whether to take their signature, wonderful crab cakes off the menu, raise the price, or just eat the difference, which, depending on how many they sell, could be a big hit in the wallet. 

This scenario can be applied to produce as well. The growers, the harvesters, the processors, the transport-all affected by labor shortages due to Covid. Poultry plants, meat processing plants, where workers stand elbow to elbow, all crushed by the virus. And then, just when we think we are getting close to being able to get back to full production, some jackasses with Cheeto-stained fingers, sitting in a dark room somewhere in Russia, come up with a ransomware hack that virtually shuts down the world's largest distributor of meat and poultry, completely interrupting the supply chain. Suddenly, no chicken wings! No steaks! No chicken breasts! 

And what does the average American do? They bitch about it, that's what. They bitch because they can't get what they want. Either the shelves are empty in the market, or the price is through the roof, or it costs more at their favorite restaurant, and they take it as a personal affront. I mean, I can finally go back out again, and now I have to pay more for my meal?? 

 I need to step back for a second and take a breath. 

Ok, I'm back. 

HOLY CRAP that was a long breath. It took a month! 

Well, things haven't gotten all that much better since I started this rant. There are still massive food and labor shortages in the food industry, people have become godzilla guests, screaming at the staff, and now, the Delta Variant of Covid is gonna put us all back in masks. 

But, the good news is: I've started putting pictures of my food back on the Food Happens Facebook page. And...I've started a fun, and hopefully eventually profitable new hobby. That's the subject of the next few blogposts, so don't go away, dear readers! 

I'll be back tomorrow. Or the next day. I promise. 

Oh, and it's summer, so get yourselves to a local farmer's market, support your local growers/producers, and eat those delicious fruits and vegetables while they're at their peak!