Fermented Foods at Every Meal

193 Pages·2016·20.948 MB·English

by  Ryczek, Hayley Barisa

© 2016 Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc.
First published in the United States of America in 2016 by
Fair Winds Press, an imprint of
Quarto Publishing Group USA Inc.
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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized, in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
20 19 18 17 16 1 2 3 4 5
ISBN: 978-1-59233-715-6
Digital edition published in 2016
eISBN: 978-1-62788-851-6
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available.
Design, cover, and page layout: Rita Sowins
Photography and cover image: Hayley Barisa Ryczek
Printed in China
The information in this book is for educational purposes only. It is not intended to replace the advice of a physician or
medical practitioner. Please see your health-care provider before beginning any new health program.
fermented
foods
every meal
at
Nourish Your Family at Every Meal with QUICK AND EASY
RECIPES USING THE TOP 10 LIVE-CULTURE FOODS
Hayley Barisa Ryczek

Contents
6 INTRODUCTION
9 Chapter 1: THE BENEFITS AND BASICS
OF FERMENTING YOUR OWN FOODS
19 Chapter 2: CRÈME FRAÎCHE
35 Chapter 3: KEFIR
51 Chapter 4: DRIED FRUIT CHUTNEY
67 Chapter 5: FERMENTED KETCHUP
81 Chapter 6: FERMENTED GINGER
ORANGE CARROTS
97 Chapter 7: KOMBUCHA
115 Chapter 8: SAUERKRAUT
131 Chapter 9: FERMENTED SWEET PICKLE
RELISH
147 Chapter 10: SWEET AND SPICY TOMATO
MANGO SALSA
165 Chapter 11: YOGURT
181 Chapter 12: TROUBLESHOOTING
AND RESOURCES
186 ABOUT THE AUTHOR
187 INDEX
Introduction
Whether or not you realize it, fermented foods are part of
your everyday life. Fermentation is used in many of the
foods you eat regularly, including salami, cheese, yogurt,
prosciutto, and bread.
Fermentation has enjoyed a resurgence of interest in recent years, but it’s actu-
ally been around for millennia. Every culture in the world has a distinctive history of
fermentation, such as kimchi, natto, soy sauce, and fish sauce in Asia; crock-fermented
sauerkraut and fermented fish in Northern Europe; and kefir and fermented pickles
in the Middle East. Throughout the years, fermentation has been used to help pre-
serve food, keeping it edible long after it was picked or caught fresh. In many ways,
fermentation provided the first convenience foods, allowing food to be stored for long
periods of time without refrigeration.
But what are fermented foods? Simply put, they are foods that have healthful
microbes deliberately added to modify them. Though the bacteria that cause a winter’s
outbreak of strep throat are obviously harmful, not all bugs are bad. Bacteria can help
keep us healthy in all kinds of ways—from bolstering our immune system to digesting
food.
Oftentimes, whether bacteria are good or bad is a matter of balance. For example,
candida is naturally occurring bacteria found in our bodies and in small amounts is
benign. However, when stress, medications, and poor diet enable it to proliferate, it
can seriously damage our intestinal lining and compromise our health in all sorts of
ways. When a microbial system is in balance, good microbes keep the bad microbes
in line. An overgrowth of bad microbes, however, can take over and disrupt the
healthy balance.
Fermentation uses the good bacteria, commonly referred to as probiotics, to make
food more nutritious. The fermentation process converts the starches in foods into
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something that’s more easily digestible. Eating fermented foods introduces the living
probiotic cultured microbes into our intestinal tracts and improves digestion, allow-
ing us to absorb more nutrients in the foods we eat. We need these good microbes to
keep a healthy balance after eating a diet rich in refined sugar and white flour foods
and also to fight illness.
Unfortunately, the American food industry has a phobia when it comes to bac-
teria. In some ways, that’s a good thing. Sterilization and pasteurization have saved
many lives since becoming standard practice in the middle of the twentieth century,
but a growing number of people argue that it’s gone too far. The perceived threat of
all bacteria in foods, good or bad, has led us to experience an imbalance of bacteria in
our guts. This fear of bacteria is unfounded. In fact, historically people have survived
because of good bacteria used to ferment foods and keep our digestive tracts healthy
and running smoothly. By reintroducing traditional, fermented foods back into our
diets, we can help to rebuild healthy gut bacteria.
In this book, I’ll teach you all the reasons why you need to have fermented foods
in your diet, how you can easily make 10 fermented foods that you and your family will
love, and how to use those foods. Eating something fermented every day is a good start-
ing point. From there, you can build up to integrating fermented foods into every meal.
This can be as easy as eating yogurt with breakfast, fermented vegetables with lunch,
and a fermented sauce with dinner. You can even squeeze in a refreshing glass of fizzy
kombucha between meals! In these pages, you will find 100 recipes that will help you
easily add fermented foods to every meal—and even times in between.
In health,
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