Initial Foray into Lacto Fermentation

Day 0

Fermentation can transform ordinary ingredients and make them unforgettable. We have cultivated a symbiotic relationship with these wild yeasts and bacteria. A book by Rene Redzepi and David Zilbur of Noma called The Noma Guide to Fermentation (I can't recommend the book enough for anyone interested in fermentation focused cuisine) provided a good jumping off point for me to experiment in this realm as well. I start, as the book does, focusing on lacto fermentation. Fermentation with lactobacillus and various other yeasts and bacteria imparts a distinct tart, funky, complex, rich, deep flavor profile to whatever dish you use these items in.

Day 0

The methods I use mirror those described in the book quite closely. I started by fermenting cherry tomatoes, peaches, and blueberries.

The tomatoes and peaches were halved while the blueberries remained whole. The fruits were then vacuum sealed with 2% kosher salt by weight. They were then set in a warm dark place. After a couple days the peaches and tomatoes noticeably started to break down and the fermentation process started to produce a significant amount of gas. The blueberries were not quite as active since the skins were not pierced.

Day 3

Nearly a week later and the bag the tomatoes were fermenting in had ballooned significantly. The bag the peaches were in had similarly dramatically expanded. At this point, I opened the bags and tasted each ferment. Both the peaches and tomatoes were ready. The tomatoes were extraordinary. Lightly tart, richer in flavor, bright, and salty. The peaches were a bit overly tart. Turns out, they were not quite as ripe as they should have been. Less peach flavor than I would have hoped to get out of it.

Day 3

Day 3

The blueberries seemed to not have much activity even after a week. There was a lot less CO2 production and very little liquid extracted. It took weeks before I was starting to see some reasonable activity.

Fresh pasta and fermented tomatoes

Cooking with the tomatoes proved to be by far the best outcome. I sautéed some garlic in a bit of butter, crushed a handful of fermented tomatoes, added a touch of marscapone, and tossed with some fresh pasta. Topped with a chiffonade of basil and some grated parmasean, in a few minutes I had an amazing pasta dish that had an amazing depth of flavor that fresh couldn't compare with. I made this exact dish twice because it was so amazing.

Pork belly and fermented peaches

The peaches turned out well, though not quite as well. I used the peaches in 2 different pork dishes. The first one took some braised and hard seared pork belly, and topped with some of the peaches, raw shallots, and a bit of celery. The sour of the peaches did well to cut through the fat of the pork belly, and it was clear that they were quite different from fresh, but the same depth and complexity that arose in the tomatoes was not there in the peaches.

A bit later I tried again with the peaches using a leaner pork chop. I made a bit of a relish with the peaches and some celery adding a bit of sesame oil to tone down the sour notes a bit along with a touch of honey. This turned out much better. Given my less than ripe initial product, this needed a bit more help than the tomatoes did.

The blueberries ended up not being usable after a few weeks and I didn't pursue them further. It seems likely that because the skins were not pierced and the yeasts and bacteria didn't have as easy access to the sugars, that the fermentation didn't kick off as it should have. Going forward, though extremely tedious, if i try this again I will definitely be cutting the blueberries.