Whey fermented carrots and ginger
Now here’s a recipe that draws on the tradition of lacto-fermentation of vegetables. We’ll hear more about lacto-fermentation but for now let’s just go with the recipe.
You’ll need 4 cups of grated carrots; 1 tablespoon of freshly grated ginger (which is easy to grow in the garden); 1 tablespoon of sea salt (without iodine added); and 4 tablespoons of whey (which you can get from draining a bit of it off your homemade yoghurt – it is the liquid that pools). If you don’t have whey you can use an additional 1 tablespoon of salt.
Now the method is to put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix them together.Then here is an interesting part. Pound them with a wooden pounder or meat hammer to release juices. Place them in a litre-sized wide-mouthed jar that can be sealed air-tight. One type is called a Mason jar – the ones with a rubber seal and a metal ring that clips it tight down. I think coffee jars that have been well washed out and have a tight-sealing press-down lid might do. Include the juices. Press down firmly with the pounder or meat hammer until the juices cover the carrots. The top of the carrots should be a couple of centimetres below the top of the jar. Cover tightly and leave at room temperature about 3 days before transferring to cold storage. Ideal room temperature to make it at is about 22 degrees C. Then store in a cool dark spot ideally with a temperature of about 4 to 5 degrees C. Lacto-fermented vegetables increase in flavour with time. Will keep many months in cold storage. Eat as a condiment not in large quantities.