These fermented tomatoes by Karin Liljegren from Eskilstuna Matkultur versatile and can be used as a side dish, in salads, blended into a gazpacho, or even scooped onto butter-fried sourdough bread. You can also use the tomato juice in a drink for a perfect summer aperitif.
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Although most cucumbers can be delicious lacto-fermented it’s best to use cucumbers with thin skins, otherwise, peeling them may be necessary. Overripe cucumbers should also be emptied of their seeds. Cut off the part where the flower was attached, as enzymes from that area can cause it to become soft. In these recipes, I’ve used different brine concentrations, but generally, with cucumbers, it’s fine to use a brine that is between 3.5% – 6% salt, resulting in approximately 1.5% – 3% salt in the final product after the cucumbers have absorbed salt through osmosis. Using less salt than that increases the chance of the cucumbers becoming soft. More salt results in a sour and crispy pickle, while less salt yields a milder and softer pickle.
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(I have only made this recipe for home use so far)
Ingredients:
5kg ripe tomatoes
1tbsp salt
Equipment:
clean tea towel
Large bowl
Moulinor or sieve and a wooden spoon
cheese cloth
Courgette (zucchini) is incredibly rewarding to grow and can be delicious when lacto-fermented. Use medium-sized fruits and remove the developing seed cavity in the middle, otherwise, the fermentation can become mushy. Lacto-fermented squash is best consumed within a few months and generally doesn’t keep as well as sauerkraut or kimchi made from cabbage. I prefer the Zuboda variety as the skin stays tender, but most varieties will work.
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Daikon – Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus – is a vegetable with a bright future. It is easy to grow, versitile and can take on an amazing spectrum of flavours and texures. It is already cultivated in large quantities in many parts of the world. Just like many other Asian cabbage varieties, it doesn’t deal well with the midsummer light in Sweden so I usually sow it outdoors at the end of July/beginning of August. This way, it becomes an important ingredient in autumn kimchi or as a great storing vegetable for the winter.
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We have always grown a mix of pumpkins and winter squashes and have mixed them wildly in this recipe. It turns out delicious every time. The latest mix consisted of Black Forest, Hokkaido, Butternut, and some self-seeded hybrids from the compost area.
Since pumpkin is quite sweet, it’s good to balance it with something slightly peppery like cabbage, daikon, or kohlrabi. This results in a really fresh and slightly sparkling ferment.
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So simple, so delicious, so healthy!
(I have only made this for home use as it doesn’t have a long shelf life)
Fill a jar 1/3 full with 1cm cubes of beetroot (peeled or unpeeled depending on your inclination), add a bit of ginger, cover with water, and sprinkle in a pinch of salt. Seal with a lid and let it sit at room temperature for about 5 days until the water turns deep red. Strain out the beets, chill the juice, and enjoy. A little bit of this every day will surely keep the doctor away. It will keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge.
Here is another recipe for beetroot.
Sauerkraut is one of the most well-known and consumed forms of lacto-fermented vegetables in Europe and the USA, and it has been produced in various ways worldwide for thousands of years. The basic recipe involves shredded cabbage and salt. Caraway seeds and juniper berries are popular seasonings, but you can also try using rowan berries, black pepper, and even sea buckthorn. Finely chop the cabbage by hand (big sharp knife is recommended), use a cabbage slicer or a food processor/vegetable cutter.
For a more detailed description of the lacto-fermentation process and how sauerkraut is made, check here.
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Fermented beetroots have a deep and earthy flavor. When you ferment beetroots alone, they can sometimes become slightly slimy due to their high sugar content, which attracts yeast. This, combined with the activity of lactic acid bacteria, results in a texture resembling buttermilk. However, you can easily avoid this by incorporating other, less sweet vegetables such as daikon, turnip, or cabbage. Adding some onion and ginger is a good way to elevate the taste from its earthy depths.
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Green tomatoes are good to ferment as they maintain a good texture and are often abundant towards the end of the season.
10kg green tomatoes
1 – 2 heads of garlic
2 onions
whole fresh chili peppers (to taste). I used a yellow chili – hot lemon because I had a lot of it and it looks nice.
a little bunch of sage
a little bunch of rosemary (skip if it’s not a favourite)
Saltlösning with 5% salt (50 g of salt per liter of water)
Chop the tomatoes into large pieces or slices, slice the onions, peel the garlic but leave the cloves whole. Keep the chili peppers and herbs whole as well. Mix all the ingredients in a container.
Place a weight or plate on top and completely cover with the salt brine. Put on the lid and, if available, use an airlock. Let it sit at room temperature for 7-10 days, then move it to a cool place. Allow it to sit cool for 4 weeks before transferring to smaller jars and consuming. It will keep for a long time.
This tomato salsa is fresh, sweet-sour, and tastes best within 2 months. After that, it can become slightly too acidic and a bit slimy (but still edible). This is a great way to use unripe and semi-ripe tomatoes towards the end of the season. Do not use overly ripe tomatoes for this recipe, as they are sweeter and can result in a fermentation dominated by yeast, leading to excessive bubbliness. I use a starter culture here.
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Cucumber kimchi is delicious right from the start, even before adding the spice blend – overnight salted cucumber is so tasty! Then, you mix in the spices to create a fresh and spicy kimchi salad. If you plan to eat this kimchi fairly quickly, it may be a good idea to replace the yellow onions with daikon, as the onion flavor can be a bit overwhelming at the beginning. This is very similar to making zucchini kimchi, and it’s absolutely fine to combine squash and cucumber. If you’re making it in jars at home, you can divide everything by 10.
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