Fermentation Workshop with Jeanne Calabrese Saturday February 2, 2019
It was fun and all hands-on Saturday morning as CCGA Education Committee kicked off 2019 with its flavorful and healthy Fermentation Workshop with Jeanne Calabrese. The friendly group partnered to split the veggies, and then went on their own, but hands-on it was: chopping cabbage and leeks, stripping fresh thyme from stems, salting cabbage and working it in with our hands. The room had an aroma of fruity acid and much nibbling began while waiting for the brine to form. Everyone admitted they were fans of sauerkraut and most were gardeners, but few had actually made it on their own. Muddlers and fermentation weights, water kefir and wild First timers shared their enthusiasm to learn while experienced canners wanted to add to their repertoire. Everyone took away recipes, more possibilities, some technique and a pint of fermented cabbage soon to become sauerkraut, one of many probiotic-rich foods for gut health. Fermenting vegetables by preserving them in liquid improves their nutritional profile. Yay!
Jeanne offered sample tasting of her varied fermentations which readily proved that fermentation is such a versatile process that almost any food can be fermented for the curious palette. We sampled crisp and tangy fermented French breakfast radishes, spicy carrots, hot Rezha peppers grown on the westside of Chicago, garlic ramps, and even a delicious fermented applesauce. A sampling of kefir waters, one from juniper and another tart one from Cornelian cherry dogwood brought unpredictable and surprising smacks and hmmmns of delight. If you love bubbly, you can have effervescence by fermentation rather than carbonation! It’s like probiotic soda, or champagne (without the alcohol). Jeanne is our favorite master preserver and we’d love to have here do this again, and again.
Workshop Documents