Spoonful Suppers

When I first started writing this blog, I told you all about my multi-purpose table where we eat, work and store my ferments. One of my housemates is moving out this week and taking our only table, so my ferments will have to be relocated, potentially to the floor. Over the course of the past three months my ferments on this table have expanded beyond the occasional kombucha and vinegar to a consistent cluster of 5 1-gallon glass jars. I currently have a jar of mango, and rose kombucha fermenting (these kombuchas mark the last of the kombucha I have to make for the book, which is an exciting milestone). In addition to these kombuchas, the elderflower wine is still going, and so is my scoby hotel (a jar to keep the kombucha culture alive and well). My final ferment on the transient table is an elderflower kombucha cultured cream, which is to ferment for one more day. They’re cute, and I like to think they’re all friends, so the in inevitable breaking up of the jars will be devastating to all.

Last week I started my third attempt at black garlic. Black garlic is most commonly found in Korea, Japan, and Thailand; however, many communities in Asia make black garlic. You might remember the process because I have unsuccessfully tried it twice before, and therefore described it on this website twice before. But what the heck let’s do it a third time. The basic premise of black garlic is a really low and slow cook, where all the sugar in the garlic is caramelized and something magical happens that makes it full of umami. You have to keep the garlic at 140 degrees Fahrenheit for 60 days to achieve the jammy delicious finished product. The temperature control was where I was failing before, so I bought a slow cooker that is able to keep my garlic at just the right temperature.

The lacto-fermented mushrooms finished two weeks ago, and I am currently trying to dehydrate them in the oven. I soaked them in maple syrup, as per the Noma recipe, and am now attempting to make a toffee-like mushroom dessert. I am not often a fan of when people try and sneak vegetables into dessert, for obvious reasons, however, I think I will be into a fungus cameo in my chocolates.

• 

• 

This upcoming week I have big plans involving fire. I am going to start the whiskey vinegar this week, which means I need to burn off the alcohol of a lot of whiskey. I have some trepidation about starting a fire on our finicky stove, but the pyromaniac in me has been looking forward to this ferment for months. My yellow pea miso will also finish this upcoming week, so I will need to start another miso, the rose petal miso.

Ferments Complete: 36

Ferments in Progress: 10

Ferments to go: 128