(Not up for the chitchat? Completely get it. Click the email title to go to a web-based version then jump straight to the recipe or Cultural Fun.
I’m fine. Bored of the endless grey and cold but fine. This time of year I’ll take my sunshine where I can get it. If not from the sky then in the kitchen. With that intent I have two same-same-but-different krauts for you today. Both involving turmeric which I like for it’s aggressively cheery yellowness as much as for its flavour.
Upcoming Events
First though, a couple of bits of Events News.
I’m gong to be doing some free kraut making workshops at the St Mary’s Eco Fair in Stoke Newington on Saturday February 22nd along with some lovely people from Growing Communities. I get my veg box from GC (picking up at the Endymion Road Gate of Finsbury Park) and they have published some of my recipes (for swede kimchi, fermented beets and pink pickled turnips) in the past.
The workshops will be about 20 minutes long and I’ll be doing as many sessions as I can fit in between 1pm and 4pm. Growing Communities will supply the veg, so just bring along a clean jar (something around 500ml) and join us.
There’ll also be bike repairs, clothes mending and strawberry plants from the community garden for sale.
I’m also really happy to announce that my Oxfordshire field-to-ferment workshop will be in June. These events are just ridiculously idyllic: picking vegetables from the neighbouring field and turning them into seasonally-inspired krauts, kimchis and pickles.
Newsletter subscribers can get a 30% early bird discount by booking before 1st March. Just use the code GARDENBIRD at checkout.
Turmeric
I have said it before and I will say it again: I am not a nutritionist. I do a fair bit of reading on the subject but I have no qualifications. But I’m not saying anything controversial in reporting that turmeric - or rather curcumin, the substance that gives the rhizome its distinctive yellow colour - is good for you. Evidence for its effectiveness in reducing inflammation is strong. Although to replicate the doses used in most studies you would have to be eating several tablespoons of ground turmeric a day. Ideally combined with black pepper which aids absorbtion.
Health boosts are welcome at this time of year but mainly I want a mood boost which is what I get from turmeric. I don’t enjoy the way it stains my fingers and kitchen surfaces. But I like its earthy, peppery, citrussy flavour. Especially when combined with close cousin ginger. And I really like its jolly yellow colour, a tonic in itself against all the drab February grey.
I use both fresh and ground turmeric in ferments. Fresh has a zingier, fruitier flavour. You get better, more reliable colour from ground but sometimes I don’t like the dusty texture it brings.
Pineapple on the left, slaw on the right.
Recipe: Turmeric & Ginger Pineapple Kraut
Makes approximately a 750ml jar
Ingredients
½ white cabbage (approximately 500g)
½ pineapple (approximately 250g)
1 thumb-size piece of ginger
1 tablespoon ground turmeric or one two-inch "finger” of fresh
black pepper
flaky sea salt (approximately 18g)
Method
Prepare the cabbage and pineapple. Cut the cabbage into quarters and remove the core (set them aside if you don’t have pickle weights). Shred each quarter finely. Top and tail the pineapple and slice off the skin. Quarter the fruit and cut out the core (see note). Save what you don’t need for another use and chop 250g into bite-size pieces.
Add the other flavourings. Grate or finely chop the ginger. I like to use a Microplane. Add the turmeric and a generous grinding of black pepper.
Weigh the veg and add salt. Put a large bowl on a scale and set it to zero. Add all the cabbage, pineapple and spices and weigh everything together. Calculate 2.5% of this weight (divide by 100 and multiply by 2.5) and add this much flaky sea salt. Toss it through to distribute evenly. After just a few seconds you’ll notice the shreds of cabbage begin to feel damp as the salt draws out water.
Leave until a brine is created. Leave for about 30 minutes. After this time you should find a small puddle of brine (a few tablespoons-worth) at the bottom of the bowl. If not, massage the cabbage vigorously for a minute or so (maybe wear gloves so as not to stain your hands).
Pack and seal. Put the everything in the jar, tamping it down really well to get rid of any air pockets and add any brine from the bowl. Use a glass or ceramic pickle weight, a sandwich bag filled with water or the cabbage cores you saved from earlier to keep the cabbage pushed under the brine. Close the jar.
Leave to ferment, checking regularly. Put the jar somewhere at room temperature but out of direct sunlight and leave it. Every few days open it up to let out any gas that has collected and to taste a little kraut. When the kraut has reached your preferred degree of tartness, move to the fridge. For me this was about a week when the kraut was sour but I could still taste the sweetness of the pineapple.
Notes (If Ifs And Ands Were Pots And Pans…)
Using fresh fruit in lacto-ferments requires a little bit of judgement. The more sugar there is, the quicker the process will go. If you want to taste the sweetness of the fresh fruit you need to eat the kraut quite young, before it is converted into lactic acid. Consider experimenting with dried fruit if you are after a kraut with elements of sweetness that you can keep for longer.
Retain the pineapple skin and core for making tepache. James Read has an recipe in his book Of Cabbages and Kimchi which I make all the time. You can find it on this ckbk article, right at the bottom.
I used ground turmeric in this recipe and fresh in the other but either will work.
I ate some of this alongside a roasted salmon fillet and some charred broccoli and it was delicious. I think it would be nice with noodles, rice or stir-fy dishes too. Or you could add some cumin and coriander seeds to give it a more south Asian profile and enjoy alongside curries and dals.
Recipe: Turmeric & Ginger Fermented Slaw
Makes approximately a 750ml jar
Ingredients
½ white cabbage (approximately 500g)
1 carrot (approximately 150g)
1 onion (approximately 100g)
1 tablespoon ground turmeric or one two-inch "finger” of fresh
1 thumb ginger
2 garlic cloves
flaky sea salt (approximately 18g)
Method
Prepare the veg. Cut the cabbage into quarters and remove the core (set them aside if you don’t have pickle weights). Shred each quarter finely. Peel and grate the carrot. Peel and finely slice the onion.
Add the other flavourings. Grate or finely chop the ginger, turmeric and garlic. I like to use a Microplane.
Weigh the veg and add salt. Put a large bowl on a scale and set it to zero. Add all the cabbage, carrot, onion, turmeric, ginger and garlic and weigh everything together. Calculate 2.5% of this weight (divide by 100 and multiply by 2.5) and add this much flaky sea salt. Toss it through to distribute evenly. After just a few seconds you’ll notice the shreds of cabbage begin to feel damp as the salt draws out water.
Leave until a brine is created. Leave for about 30 minutes. After this time you should find a small puddle of brine (a few tablespoons-worth) at the bottom of the bowl. If not, massage the cabbage vigorously for a minute or so (maybe wear gloves so as not to stain your hands).
Pack and seal. Put the everything in the jar, tamping it down really well to get rid of any air pockets and add any brine from the bowl. Use a glass or ceramic pickle weight, a sandwich bag filled with water or the cabbage cores you saved from earlier to keep the cabbage pushed under the brine. Close the jar.
Leave to ferment, checking regularly. Put the jar somewhere at room temperature but out of direct sunlight and leave it. Every few days open it up to let out any gas that has collected and to taste a little kraut. When the kraut has reached your preferred degree of tartness, move to the fridge. In my current wintry kitchen it took about two weeks.
Notes (If Ifs And Ands Were Pots And Pans…)
You could also lean into South Asian flavours here and add cumin and coriander seeds along with the turmeric. Fresh coriander would be a great addition too.
I’ve made a version of this with finely sliced fennel in it too which was also delicious.
Cultural Fun
James and I have a tradition of watching all the Best Picture nominees before the Oscars. I’m not sure we’re going to make it this year but we’re trying. We saw Anora the other night (the current frontrunner). It felt about twenty minutes too long but I liked it.
Incredible performances from Mikey Madison as Ani, an exotic dancer from Brooklyn and Mark Eydelshteyn as the feckless manchild son of a Russian oligarch who pays her to be his girlfriend for a week and then marries her. Both brought real depth to their characters. Her a steely vulnerability and him the idea that there might be a goofy sweetness to this child of privilege that redeems him. Our hearts are broken along with Ani’s when that turns out not to be the case.
For Christmas I gave James tickets to Operation Mincemeat. We went on Tuesday and really enjoyed it. It’s based on the true (and completely nuts) story of an Allied plan using a dead body planted with fake documents to deceive the Nazis into moving troops so they could invade Sicily.
It’s a fine line, keeping things light and entertaining whilst simultaneously communicating the gravity of war and the importance of the mission. One the show dances along with finesse. The songs tuneful with densely witty lyrics.
I would say it’s a sort of British Hamilton. Not as dazzling and original as Lin Manuel Miranda’s creation (what is?) but comparable in that it imparts information lightly and with pathos.
I took in the Soil exhibition at Somerset House with some friends at the weekend and would recommend it with reservations.
We loved Soil In Action, time-lapse films by “microphotographer” Wim Van Egmond which are absolutely mesmerising. Roots grow and explore, leaves break down, worms make tunnels, beetles trundle by. It makes you very aware that the ground isn’t solid.
It’s an odd exhibition, though, an attempt to balance science and art. Simultaneously informing you about the complex world of microbes and mushrooms beneath our feet and responding to it creatively. I could sometimes have done with a bit more information before giving myself over to the rest.
My friend Emily said she’d been to see Sheldrake give a talk and that another audience member had had to ask him to speak up. I wished we could have done the same during this film which, from what snatches I could catch, was really interesting, about the lifecycle of the mushroom itself and how closely it is woven into the surrounding life. But mainly it was impressive visuals and chill-out room ambience.
The whole exhibition was a bit like this: vibesy rather than informative. “Ooooh, wow, soil” instead of deeper understanding. I suppose I should just read Sheldrakes book.
Bye! See you next week!
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Love the idea of the pineapple kraut. And I'll take any excuse to make tepache!