Cultures for Health Blog

the Weekly Cultured Gathering: May 25th

May 25, 2013 in Weekly Cultured Gathering

Welcome to the Weekly Cultured Gathering! We’re here to share and celebrate our adventures in food fermentation. From recipes to tips & tricks to food preservation – cultured foods are as old as food itself.

Maybe you eat cultured food because of the health benefits. Maybe you make it for the art and science involved. Maybe you believe that this age-old practice of souring dough, culturing dairy, brewing beverages, and fermenting vegetables is wonderfully sustainable. Maybe you feed them to your family because of all of the above.

Whatever draws you to the art of fermentation, this weekly gathering is a place where you can find others working towards the same goals as you are. It is a community.

So please share what’s culturing on your counter. Have a new recipe? What’s your favorite ferment right now? Why do you eat cultured foods? What have you learned that might help others?

Please share a link to your favorite cultured blog post below. If you don’t have a blog, I’d love to hear what you’re up to in the comments. Next week I’ll highlight a few of your posts & comments for everyone to take a closer look at.

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The Weekly Cultured Food Roundup: edition #3

May 24, 2013 in What's New at CFH

Every week we’re going to bring you the best of the week in posts from right here at the CFH blog, news you can use from the CFH site, and a few interesting links from around the web.

Let’s start with some awesome new content you can find at the CFH site including recipes, upcoming products & events, and brand new products to help you in your cultured kitchen.

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CFH at the Green Festival in Chicago

May 23, 2013 in Events

Note from Shannon: Please welcome Suzanne, CFH Customer Service Rep & cultured kitchen-keeper, as she shares her culturing experiences from the Green Festival in Chicago.

I just returned home from Chicago, where Cultures for Health presented products and shared culturing know-how in our booth at the Green Festival, held at Navy Pier.

While we met with lots of interest in making kombucha, yogurt and other cultured foods at home, the theme of the weekend seemed to be cultured vegetables. This should come as no surprise, considering Chicago’s rich history of European immigration.

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The Simple Art of Lacto-Fermented Vegetables: Salsa

May 22, 2013 in Fermented Vegetables, Fruits & Condiments

Lacto-fermented vegetables were one of the first cultured foods I dabbled in. It seemed intimidating at first, that I could put some fresh vegetables in a jar, cover them with a brine (or just add salt), and once fermented they would keep for months.

It seemed too good to be true, frankly. But then we made delicious, crunchy, preserved pickles without a boiling water bath canner on a 90 degree day and I was sold.

Lacto-fermented vegetables are the oldest version of preserved vegetables, right alongside dehydrated vegetables. They can be made so simply with just vegetables and salt, or you can jazz them up with various flavors and spices. The science involved in this process will preserve your vegetables, but the art of it is so simple that you’ll be making them over and over again.

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My favorite fermentation tools

May 21, 2013 in The Cultures and Equipment We Keep

Note from Shannon: I am pleased to bring the voices of our lovely contributors to this space every Tuesday. Please welcome Erin, CFH Customer Service Rep & cultured kitchen-keeper.

I like to keep things simple. Although I do love my kitchen gadgets, I don’t like them hanging out on my counter at all times. Okay… that may be a lie… my husband doesn’t like them hanging out on the counter at all times.

Luckily, most fermentation is simple and pretty on the counter! With just a few key items, you can have a fermentation party on your counter top without having to have (too many) specific tools for each type of product.