Recap: How to start fermenting at home | Sandor Katz

0:00Hello, and welcome to Zoe Recap, where each week we find the best bits from one of our podcast episodes to help you improve your health. Today, we're diving into fermentation. If you're a regular Zoe listener, you've probably heard that fermented foods are some of the best things you can eat for your gut health. Packed with beneficial microbes, they've been shown to boost everything from digestion to immune function. Still, the idea of at-home fermentation, cultivating bacteria and microorganisms in your very fridge, can feel a little daunting, more like a science experiment than a culinary adventure.

0:35That's where Sander Katz comes in. He's a fermentation revivalist, best-selling author, and the driving force behind a global fermentation movement. So if you're a total beginner or just kimchi curious, this episode will give you the tools, the confidence, and maybe even the craving to get fermenting at home. Fermentation has been an integral part of how people in every part of the world make effective use of whatever food resources are available to them. It's part of our cultural legacy everywhere. And yet over the past several generations, fewer and fewer people have been practicing fermentation.

1:17And so when I talk about myself as a fermentation revivalist, it's really trying to revive interest in these ancient practices and basically help people feel confident to bring them into their home kitchens. The easiest way to ferment vegetables of all is what I would describe as the sauerkraut method, dry salting the vegetables. All you do is you shred vegetables, create surface area, lightly salt them. There's no magic number about how much salt you have salted lightly, mix it up, taste it, add more salt if desired, add seasonings if you like, caraway seeds or garlic or chili peppers or anything.

1:59Squeeze the vegetables for a few minutes and that helps get them juicy. Once they're juicy and you like the balance of flavors, pack them into a vessel so they are submerged under their own juices and then wait some days or some weeks. And that's the whole process. For making kimchi, there's an additional step to the process. And that is that I shred the vegetables and I submerge them under a saltwater brine solution. I don't measure the salt, but I taste it and I'm going for the flavor of the sea. I want it to be somewhere around five or 6 % salt. Pretty salty. Pretty salty. And then you just leave that for 24 hours.

2:39And then the next day, you go ahead and you make a little spice paste. Typically, people add some sort of more concentrated carbohydrate. And that could be grain-based, like my rice paste. It could be fruit-based. Sometimes people will use pears or apples or other fruit. Sometimes people just add a spoonful of sugar or honey. There's various ways to achieve that. But just by adding some more concentrated carbohydrate element just makes for a more vigorous, faster fermentation. And Sander, one of the things I find amazing, and again, I think this shows you how, I guess, medicalized I am, is that you didn't say you go and add the particular correct bacteria into your kimchi, right?

3:26In fact, you didn't even mention anything about the bacteria. They just sort of magically appeared. Could you help us to understand and why don't we have to be really careful about this step? Sure. The reason why we don't have to add some specific pure culture starter that's been propagated in a laboratory is that we have a clear understanding that all plants are host to lactic acid bacteria. I mean, there's a broad consensus among microbiologists and botanists that all plants growing out of soil on planet Earth are host to lactic acid bacteria. And so if we create the conditions in which the lactic acid bacteria can thrive, they are always there to do so.

4:15Now, I mean, you could certainly find on the internet a packet of white powder of lactobacillus plantarum, which people will be happy to sell you as a starter for making sauerkraut or kimchi or other kinds of fermented vegetables. But, you know, I would consider that to be an exploitative product because the lactic acid bacteria are already present on vegetables and you don't need to add a starter. That's amazing. So you're saying, because I thought maybe it was in the air, you're saying actually the plants themselves, it's not like they come pre-packaged with their own bacteria. You literally just have to add the salt, put them in the jar, and you're away.

4:55I mean, they're growing out of the soil. And the soil is this just incredible, complex system that we're only beginning to develop tools to be able to appreciate the level of complexity of it. But the seedling is emerging, you know, partly with the help of microorganisms in the soil. The plant is able to grow and flourish with the assistance of microorganisms in the soil. And so, you know, the soil is the source of all of this. And the organisms that enable the animals that we raise for our food that are grazing on plants, you know, it's the soil organisms that are feeding their gut bacteria as well.

5:38So, I mean, I would say the microbial system really begins and ends in the soil. And that's the source of the constant renewal of life, really. There's a sort of beautiful connectivity as you talk about this, right? Where actually, you know, through the food and the bacteria, you're connected back to the soil and the world. And that's obviously very different from the interaction with food that most of us have now in the West. where everything comes in a packaged plastic wrapped solution. And the more that it has been separated and sterilized, the better. And I do think that it's amazing that just as we've been discovering how important these microbes are inside our guts for our health, we also see equally well that we always used to have this very interactive back and forth connection with the bacteria outside us.

6:36And I guess, you know, what I'm hearing is that fermentation is one of these ways that you can start to maybe pull this back together again. Absolutely. And I mean, I think beyond fermentation, I mean, we really have an imperative to reconnect to the sources of our food and reclaim our food. You know, food is not a commodity like every other commodity. I I mean, you know, food is what enables us to continue to exist. Food comes from plants and animals. The pursuit of food connects every kind of organism in the world with its environment. And, you know, human beings in the name of our sort of supposed progress have really sort of severed that connection.

7:19And, you know, I think we need to become reconnected to the sources of our food and reclaim our food as a product of our environment that we interact with. What would be your five tips for trying fermentation yourself? Okay, number one, do not be afraid. Do not project all of the anxiety you've ever had about bacteria onto the process of fermentation. Understand that these are ancient practices that have been tested by time and that they are extremely safe. Okay, number two, fermentation is all about manipulating environmental conditions so as to encourage the growth of certain organisms and simultaneously discourage the growth of others.

8:08Understand what the conditions you're trying to create are. In the case of fermenting vegetables, It's simply getting the vegetables submerged, which protects them from the flow of air with oxygen. And that's what supports the flourishing of the lactic acid bacteria rather than, say, spores of molds. So, you know, understand the condition you're trying to create. A third one I'll say that's a little bit different is, you know, don't overthink it. Don't try to imagine everything that could theoretically go wrong and make yourself crazy. These are simple processes, like accept the simplicity of them.

8:50Number four, don't be afraid to experiment. It's the process that's important. If you add a different kind of vegetable or a different kind of seasoning, that's great. Kimchi is not one thing. You know, kimchi is the name for this, you know, incredibly diverse tradition. And there's a lot of regional variation, but there's also just family recipes. And, you know, every grandma who has her own secret something that she adds into it. So don't be afraid to experiment. Don't be afraid to play. Number five, be creative about how you incorporate these foods into your diet. I think for a lot of people who aren't accustomed to them, that's the hard part.

9:30And just experiment. Like, I love it with eggs. I love it as a condiment on a sandwich. You know, there's endless applications. I love to use the extra juice of the sauerkraut or the pickles in salad dressings. But, you know, be creative. I'll leave you with one final thought. What if there was one simple habit that, when repeated, could change how you feel for the better? I'd like to tell you about something that I do daily for my own health. It's called Daily 30. the gut supplement developed by our scientists here at Zoe. Daily 30 is made of over 30 hand-picked plants, including seaweed, fungi, and different types of fiber.

10:10It's a source of plant protein, omega-3, and vital minerals. You simply add a scoop to any meal once a day to support your health and increase the plant diversity in your diet. And unlike synthetic supplements, Daily 30 actually tastes great. It's designed to be enjoyed because when a habit brings you joy, you're far more likely to stick with it. So next time you feel like your plate is missing extra plants do yourself a favor, try Daily 30. It's a delicious and healthy habit that you'll feel good about and one that your gut will definitely thank you for. By the way, whenever we talk about Daily 30 as a good source of fiber we're required to say that it contains 4 grams of total fat per serving.

10:51Obviously, that's all amazing healthy fats from plants. so order yours today at zoe.com daily 30 see you next time