Comments on: Marinara-Style Cultured Vegetables Recipe

By: Lee Deavers

Lee Deavers — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 16:55:55 +0000

Excellent details. I am going to get all the stuff. I will use whey this time; next time I will thy the body ecology culture.

Thanks!
Lee

By: Alison @ Wholesome Goodness

Alison @ Wholesome Goodness — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 18:38:53 +0000

Jorja,
You’re welcome! I’m so glad you found it helpful.

By: Jorja

Jorja — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:11:59 +0000

Thanks for this tutorial. It made making my first batch of cultured vegetables a snap! I’ll be sharing it with others.

By: pennythoughts

pennythoughts — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 13:28:58 +0000

First of all, I am so glad that you’re going to try culturing your own vegetables. Congratulations! It’s a big step for most of us, and I think it takes a lot of courage the first time. I know *I* was intimidated!

To answer your first question, no, the cabbage leaf does not need to be completely submerged in the liquid. Its main job is to wedge the shredded vegetables underwater, so you will find that the rolled leaf needs to be partially submerged. It is perfectly fine, however, if the top is exposed. Just be sure to coat the leaf in brine before you roll it. (Now, if you happen to wedge the roll in the jar firmly enough that it stays under the surface of the brine, that’s not a problem either.) Have you see my cultured vegetable tutorial? If you haven’t already, you may want to view some of the pictures in Part 2. You’ll be able to see that, from the side, the cabbage rolls are partially submerged and that, from the top, they’re exposed. Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words!

When using whey, you can add it directly to the brine without honey or sugar. Based on my (admittedly limited) understanding, the honey or sugar is only necessary when using a packaged starter culture because those bacteria have been dehydrated and are dormant. They need a little food to “wake up.” Your whey does not need the extra help, as long as it contains active bacteria (meaning that you have separated it yourself from yogurt, kefir, or homemade cultured buttermilk with live and active cultures and have not heated it up). Its bacteria will get to work on the vegetables right away.

I hope these answers are helpful to you, Rebekah. If need any more details, please don’t hesitate to ask. And thank you for reading my blog!

By: Rebekah

Rebekah — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 04:07:39 +0000

in step 7 you roll the cabbage leaf and wedge it into the jar. Does the cabbage need to be submerged in liquid or can it sit above, exposed.

Also, I plan on using whey. Am I going to mix the whey with honey or sugar or does it go straight into the brine.

Thank you, I look forward to trying this

By: pennythoughts

pennythoughts — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 05:05:51 +0000

Whether or not to use salt when preparing vegetables for fermentation is certainly an area of debate. For now, anyway, I’m following the advice not to use salt (even sea salt), because it retards the growth of some beneficial kinds of bacteria. See an article about this effect here: http://www.bodyecology.com/06/12/21/using_salt_to_ferment_foods.php
Of course, salting them right before eating is another story. Either way, cultured vegetables are, indeed, great for establishing a healthy balance of gut flora and keeping Candida (yeast) in check.

By: Lynn Blazyk

Lynn Blazyk — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 15:29:13 +0000

I make sour Kraut in 4 days, by griding up the cabbage fairly fine sprinkle in sea salt and pack it in a quart jar. It’s fast and a great way to always have some on hand.

Yeast overgrowth is not widely recognized by medical doctors as a problem. Especially if don’t have the outward symptoms such as thrush, etc. The fact is yeast overgrowth can cause a whole host of problems. Getting your bacterial flora back in balance can help you overcome digestive, skin, fatigue and problems.

By: pennythoughts

pennythoughts — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 20:52:19 +0000

Or you could come over so we could make some cultured veggies together. Then you’d have some of your own to eat at home in dreadful Galveston.

By: Susan

Susan — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 19:11:53 +0000

Now, all that I have to do is visit you more often - hopefully 2 or 3 times a day