The beauty of the southern hemisphere, and particularly here in Australia, is our inclination to set the date for the change of the seasons. Here in Oz, spring is due to start in 5 days time ie: the first of September.

Mornings are still cold at 4-5’c up here in the hills, but the days are starting to warm up. Tomorrow is heading for 24’c, yippee!

I was reminded of the temperature this morning as I was sipping my first humongous mug of english breakfast tea. I heard this “blip” sound. Then, a little while later, another. It then dawned on me, the sauerkraut I lovingly put in the crock and set by the fireplace yesterday is fermenting! Excellent. The crock can sit there in the warmth for a week and then I will move it into the laundry where it’s cooler to continue cool fermentation for another week or so before I remove the “kraut” and pack it into smaller jars to live in the fridge.

This stuff is alive. Unlike the pasteurized product you get in the supermarket, this one has all those lovely lactobacillus happily multiplying and otherwise having a rollicking good time turning ordinary cabbage into a culinary thing of great beauty.

Take two heads of fresh cabbage, shred finely or not as you choose, pack into a 7 litre crock and pound the shredded cabbage with a  pestle. Strew with sea salt as you go using about 4 tablespoons to 5kg of cabbage. Weight the top of the cabbage down with a plate or flat stones if you are lucky enough to have purpose-built ones and add a little of the liquid from the previous batch to speed things along (not essential, but nice). I like to add a little cooled boiled water to just cover the stones and protect the cabbage from the air. (my Harsch crock also has an airlock lid) Ferment at about 20’c for a week and then drop the temperature by moving it to a cooler place at 15-18’c for a week or so longer, until you are ready to start eating. Don’t be tempted to peek! Because the climate here tends to be hot, when I’m satisfied that it’s ready, mine ends up in the fridge in smaller jars. Goes great with everything, but particularly smoked meats and fish (smoking more meat and fish is this weekends job). Don’t forget the mustard.

The other item of a somewhat more robust nature doing its own thing on the kitchen bench is the kimchi. Now this stuff smells vicious. It could be used as smelling salts with all that ginger, garlic, sambal oelek and fish sauce, not to mention the Daikon radish in there. But boy, am I looking forward to the first taste of it, even if it will make my eyes water. I can fully understand why the Koreans are addicted to the stuff. Just make sure you don’t take the lid off the pot unless you know your friends like it. It’s the fastest way to clear a room…

kind regards,

J