Fermented food.

[Orfy]

I've just found an online book that may be worth a look.

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=0pHBOjhq_P4C&dq=handbook+of+fermented+functional+foods&pg=PP1&ots=yWko3F5wvX&sig=E5E0ULNxIGTIZl7oI02nG-Lfjh0&prev=http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Handbook+of+Fermented+Functional+Foods&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GBfficial&client=firefox-a&sa=X&oi=print&ct=title&cad=one-book-with-thumbnail&hl=en#PPP1,M1

 

[Kevin Dean]

There's a section on Kimchi.

And Sauerkraut.

 

[Dr Vorlauf]

My wife is Korean so I always have 10 lbs of Kimchi laying around. I even put Kimchi into a secondary fermenter once with a wheat beer. Tasted damn good ( if you like Kimchi ). I went a bit too heavy though. I will repeat this again and see if I can reduce the amount and get something nice.

Saurkraut would be interesting to try to... but with what type of beer?

 

[zoebisch01]

My SIL just gave me a book "Wild Fermentation". Lots of cool stuff in there, although it is a rather introductory book. But it does have some cool things I want to try. The really awesome thing is she brought me some packs of Koji spores to go with the book....Sake, here I come!

In the book he talks about how once he fermented a Goat roast. Said he cooked it and basically the smell of it cleared out the house hehe. Another really extreme thing I saw on that show Bizarre foods was where the guy ate fermented pork. They finely shred fresh, raw pork, salt it and pack it into jars for about a week or so .

Back to the book though, he makes a very interesting point in that here in the States we have very much gone away (to a large degree) from having living, fermented foods in our daily diet. Almost every other culture in the world embraces fermented foods, but in much of the states we have grown so accustomed to the idea that everything must be sterile. It made me thing once again why I love homebrew! I have never once gotten even a headache from homebrew, not once.

Looks like a good read Orf. Thanks for sharing, I'll definitely read it!

 

[TheClosetBrewery]

I can't think fermented food without thinking Hákarl. I've never had the misfortune to try it, but my father assures me it's quite terrible.

Also, I seem to be allergic to kimchi...I love the taste, but when I eat it, I have a reaction around my lips and mouth that feels like a really, really bad sunburn...anyone else have this happen? Thank god I've not had any reaction to kraut.

 

[BlindLemonLars]

I even put Kimchi into a secondary fermenter once with a wheat beer. Tasted damn good ( if you like Kimchi ).

I love kimchi, and almost always have some in the fridge, but I must confess that a kimchi flavored wheat beer sounds awful!

Natto (fermented soybeans) has an intensely rich, almost cheese-like flavor that I quite like, but it's hard to get past the slimy, stringy texture. It's typically served with rice, and when you stir it up, these long sticky filaments form. My girlfriend is Japanese, so there is always some in the house. It's supposed to be amazingly healthy, so sometimes I'll add some to an omelet or stirfry. Cooking eliminates the stringy stuff, but I suspect it also diminishes the health benefits.

Dried natto is hard (actually, impossible!) to find in the USA, but it makes a GREAT beer snack! Thankfully, the girlfriend travels to Japan several times a year and always brings me some back.

 

[zoebisch01]

I can't think fermented food without thinking Hákarl. I've never had the misfortune to try it, but my father assures me it's quite terrible.

Also, I seem to be allergic to kimchi...I love the taste, but when I eat it, I have a reaction around my lips and mouth that feels like a really, really bad sunburn...anyone else have this happen? Thank god I've not had any reaction to kraut.

Wow the Hakarl is uhm, interesting? Hehe. I might be able to try it, as I am a fan of Salt Liquorice and some of the double strength Salmiak varieties have a very intense ammonia flavor, although it sounds as if the shark is even more so. Sounds like one of those cultural rites of passage type foods .

Strange about the Kimchi. I have never had that trouble myself.