Fermenting Vegetables

Fermenting is preserving with the help of friendly bacteria, which turn the natural sugars in vegetables into acid that keeps them safe and gives that tangy, alive flavour. Sauerkraut is the perfect place to start, since it needs nothing but cabbage and salt.

How it works

Submerge vegetables in a salty brine and the right bacteria take over, producing lactic acid that preserves the food and keeps harmful microbes out. The two keys are enough salt and keeping everything under the brine, away from air. Done right, fermenting is safe and self-regulating, and a failed ferment usually smells obviously wrong rather than sneaking up on you.

Simple sauerkraut

• Shred cabbage finely and weigh it
• Add around two percent of its weight in salt and massage until it releases its juice
• Pack tightly into a jar so the brine rises above the cabbage
• Weigh it down to keep it submerged, cover loosely, and leave at room temperature
• Taste from a few days on, and refrigerate when it is sour enough for you

Beyond cabbage

Once you have the knack, cucumbers become real dill pickles, and beans, carrots, beetroot and chillies all ferment well in a salt brine. Keep everything under the liquid, since anything poking out can grow mould, which you remove while the submerged ferment below stays good. A cool New Zealand room ferments more slowly than a warm one, so let taste rather than the clock tell you when it is ready, then move it to the fridge to slow right down.