Pickles and Ferments
By Kimberly Hopkins, Guest Writer!
This is Kim Hopkins, Salem Depot member, subbing for Julie in writing this week’s article so she can take a much needed vacation. I hope you are all finding ways to keep cool in this heat, and I hope the staff and volunteers stay hydrated at the depots!
If you’re anything like me, you have a pile-up of fruits and veggies collecting in your fridge. It’s not a bad problem to have, and I’m ever grateful for all of the fresh produce that the Farm Direct Coop provides to us members. However, it can get a little daunting when you have too many items to feasibly eat in the next week or two. I thought I would write about my solution to this issue, so other members might take a shot at it if they have too much fresh food that will go to waste if not used up immediately.
I pickle everything…I mean EVERYTHING. Fruits, veggies, what have you. My husband, Drew, ferments everything…and I mean EVERYTHING. So between the two of us, we have quite the little menagerie of pickles and fermented items that fill the depths of our refrigerator. I sometimes find jars of pickled cukes in February that I had totally forgotten about, and the best part is that they do not go bad. We always manage to go through our pickles and ferments by the next FDC season, so feel free to hop on the bandwagon, folks!
It’s so easy to make a pickling brine, and it’s even easier to make a ferment. All you need for brine is salt, vinegar, spices, and water, and fermenting only requires salt and water. My favorite things to pickle are cucumbers (of course!), eggs (thanks to Julie’s Happy Hens!), and even fruit. Pickled chard stems are delightfully crunchy, pickled green beans in a mustard brine are to die for, and pickled blueberries and apples are a wonderful addition to any party platter. Drew’s ferments are especially delicious – kim chi, sauerkraut, beet kvass, and bread kvass. Both methods are so easy, and it allows you to enjoy those wonderful fruits and veggies well into the dead of winter. I make a mean fermented salsa, which is pretty much just a basic salsa recipe with a lot of extra salt. I let it sit on the counter for 4-5 days, depending on how hot the weather is. Burp the jar each day, and when it tastes sparkly it is done. Pop those jars in the fridge, and you can eat it for a year. Don’t fear the ferments!
If you are interested in trying fermentation, a good resource is the “Art of Fermentation” by Sandor Katz. For pickles, I found a delightful Indian pickle recipe book called “Usha’s Pickle Digest: The Perfect Pickle Recipe Book” by Usha R Prabakaran (now known as India’s “Pickle Queen.”) It has loads of pickle recipes that are not the standard US fare. You can also google recipes or search what seems like an infinite amount of recipes on Pinterest. There are even more YouTube videos demonstrating how to make things such as kim chi or kkakdugi, which is a mind blowing radish ferment similar in taste to kim chi. Once you start, your mind opens up to all possibilities, and your produce will take on a whole new life, not to mention flavor. It’s so much fun to play around and try new things.
I hope that some of you will give it a shot, if you haven’t done so already. It really elevates a meal when you embellish it with a ferment or pickle, because they have a unique umami flavor that works well with all sorts of other flavors. It’s just one more tool in your toolbox for preserving the wonderful bounties of the season.
Look forward to: tomatoes, cantaloupe, more corn, eggplant, plums
Thank you for supporting local!
Kim Hopkins
