Fermentation Station episode 1

Yes, this is a blog about cocktails and Fortean topics.. but lately I have been messing around with fermentation and I want to share some stuff about that. I mean, why not add some good little critters to your diet? Especially if you live the ‘bartender lifestyle’, and maybe rely on late night Del Taco bags for your sustenance. So let’s start here before we get into the ‘hard stuff’, and get some healthy stuff in our guts!

This is so easy, I’m surprised they haven’t made it illegal. Just take a couple of pounds of cabbage and chop it finely after removing the core and outer leaves. Add a tablespoon of salt, I used kosher [edit: I am having better success with a little more salt than that, maybe an extra teaspoon] Don’t use iodized salt- for basically anything but definitely not this! Then just massage the salt in slowly, a little at a time. Eventually, after maybe five minutes, the vegetables will get nice and soggy, where they drip when you squeeze them. Next, pack the soggy cabbage into a liter jar, there should be about an inch of airspace left in the jar once you pack it in. Oh, quick tip, I find that green cabbage gives up its juice more easily, so start there. But I digress, push the veggies into the jar with your fingers or a spatula.

I decided to get creative with this batch, I mixed in some mustard greens with half of the batch. I did a pound of just cabbage, then did a pound of mixed cabbage and mustard greens. The smell of the mustard was amazing and I can’t wait until it’s ready. I also added some peppercorns, bay leaf, fennel and caraway seed to the bottom of the jar as well. My first batch of sauerkraut had the spices mixed in and I didn’t enjoy chewing on them so this time I am going to see if it works better this way. Make sure the juice covers the vegetables, I used one of the firm outer leaves left from trimming the cabbage to squeeze into the top of the jar like a wedge, holding everything under the juice.

So, this literally took ten minutes, maybe fifteen, and there is no excuse. You can have homemade probiotic goodness in just a few days! Next, it’s Tiki and spectral watchers, right here in California..