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| Fermenting fresh ginger can make a refreshing drink |
Fermentation – the art of preserving foodstuffs and making them more digestible and nutritious – has been making a comeback in recent years. Whilst the art of fermentation can be traced back to the beginning of mankind, the past 100 years has seen the industrialisation and centralisation of the world’s food supplies and a resultant dropping off in consumption of fermented foods around the world. But now with the renewed interest in artisanal and localised food production, epitomised by the Slow Food movement - which now has Chapters in India - fermentation is again on the rise – pun intended.
People are again making hand-made fermented foodstuffs like sauerkraut, sourdough breads, home brewed wines and beers and yogurt. (Although interestingly home-made yogurt has never really gone out of vogue here in the Indian household.)
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| Momofuku's David Chang |
The wunderkid chef/restaurateur of the New York food scene Momofuku’s David Chang is currently experimenting with fermentation processes – and giving lectures around the world about his ‘discoveries’. " Lactic-acid fermentation, pickling and age-drying beef are things that we’ve been doing for centuries, but we don’t really know much about what’s going on behind the scenes,” Chang said in a recent lecture. Perhaps his interest in fermentation is no coincidence given his Korean/Japanese background where kimchi and miso are two of the world’s last remaining recognisable examples of fermentation products.
And there are a number of recent publications dealing with aspects of fermentation including Sally Fallon’s “Nourishing Traditions” – an impressive collection of natural food recipes which also includes fermentation techniques and a book I have been using recently entitled “Wild Fermentation”, by a New Yorker with the unusual name of Sandor Ellix Katz!
Mr Katz’s book looks at fermentation techniques and recipes for cheese, miso, sauerkraut, soy products, sourdoughs and various types of beers, meads and wines. They are easy to follow recipes which usually don’t require much in the way of special equipment or ingredients.
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| Preparing the 'ginger bug' |
One recipe that I have used several times is for fermenting ginger beer. It’s basically just fresh ginger, sugar, water and lemon juice but the fermentation part of the recipe requires nurturing a “ginger bug” and feeding it for a week or so to kick start the process. The bug is basically grated fresh ginger – including the skin – mixed with sugar and water which is and topped up every 2 days in order to activate the fermentation process.
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| Close up shot of the fermentation after 7 days |
Once the bug is ready you mix it with a larger quantity of water, sugar and some lemon juice – boil it through for about half an hour – and then bottle it in recycled bottles – I use mid-sized soda bottles.
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| Washed & sterilised re-cycled soda bottles |
You can vary the ‘strength’ of the ginger beer by simply adding more grated ginger and the end product – which is ready after about two weeks – is a feisty, intensely ginger-flavoured drink which is fermented enough to produce carbonation but not enough to produce significant levels of alcohol.
So it can be a great drink for everyone in the hot summer months – either served straight on ice or mixed with soda or made into a ‘ginger spider’ with icecream added.
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| The ginger beer is bottled and left to ferment for 2 weeks |
For a more ‘adult’ taste I mix the ginger beer with dark rum and ice. This mix is known in the U.S. as a “Dark and Stormy” and I think it’s the perfect alternative to a gin and tonic in India ... especially in the summer heat we've just been having where the temperature has been hitting 43 degrees here in Hyderabad for days at a time!
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| Bring on the 'Dark & Stormys'! |
Tony saab/Hyderabad June 2012
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