After about 4 days, the fermenting in the garlic jars tapered off. So I drained the brine, added soy sauce, rice vinegar, water, and lots of brown sugar.
Now, the 6 month wait begins.
The carrots are also coming along nicely. They taste tart and crunchy. Yes, carrots are supposed to be crunchy, but now they have that pickled crunch instead of the raw crunch. It's a whole different kind of crunch. Along with fennel seeds, garlic, and bay leaves, the recipe called for pickling spices. Which I didn't have. And couldn't find at the grocery store. So I just used garam masala. The flavor so far is unusual, but very good. I've moved them to the fridge, but I'm going to give them another week before I unveil them at Poker Night.
One Good Turnip Deserves Another
Next on the fermenting agenda: Real Deal Half Sours and Korean Style Pickled Turnips.
I peeled and sliced the turnips and tossed them in sea salt to draw out the water. Here they are after only 30 minutes. Sweaty.
The salt pulled almost a cup of water in that amount of time.
This is basic osmosis. Osmosis is the movement of water and water always follows salt. So if you have cells or tissues and the salt concentration is greater on the outside, the water will move out. If the salt concentration is greater on the inside, the water will move in. Which is why you decrease your salt intake if you're retaining water or have high blood pressure. Water follows salt.
After three hours, I rinsed them and added green onions, garlic, and pepper flakes. These should be ready in about a week.
I also started a batch of Real Deal Half Sours, named thus, mostly because they're the real deal, but also because they are half sours. No vinegar here. Brine, dill, and garlic only. These will be 100% fermented and should be ready in a few days.
What's the Dill?
Why, you ask, do pickles get dill and garlic? Why not cilantro and shallots? What's the deal with dill?
Well, dill and garlic are tasty. The flavors combine well with the cucumbers. But most importantly, both dill and garlic are anti-microbial. Since fermenting is controlled decomposition, you are establishing the environment for a specific type of bacteria. You want to kill off all other bacteria and fungi. Along with the salt concentration, garlic and dill regulate how much bacteria and what kind will grow in the jar.
Garlic and dill have been used medicinally as far back as Ancient Egypt. There's evidence that garlic was cultivated during the building of the Great Pyramid at Giza. By the way, while the Great Pyramid was under construction, woolly mammoths were still alive. So that was a long time ago.
Garlic and dill were probably added to pickles to preserve them, the flavor being a fortunate side effect. Now we fresh pack them in vinegar and can them, retaining the garlic and dill out of tradition. Also because they're tasty.
Parting Shot
It's not enough that she steals toys from the dog and then taunts him.
Fatty has also claimed all of my shirts.
Snowy Time Mystery: extra credit on the final exam for anyone who guesses the reason this line of snow remained after a rain.
No comments:
Post a Comment