Thanks for all the feedback on my fermented feijoa drink - I'm planning on trying it with quince next. I wanted to explain my reasons for fermenting food - other than the obvious taste benefits. Above is a picture of some lacto-fermented pickles I made recently. I used a few handfuls of olives from my tree, some dandelions, some of the last courgettes and tomatoes, small onions and herbs - put them in brine for a few days at room temp and then into the fridge. The olives are still bitter so they might take a while in the fridge before they reach perfection.
In our modern germ-phobic society micro-organisms often have a bad name (germs are just a naughty word for micro-organisms). I'm not a big fan of sterilizing everything in sight - those hand sanitizers give me the creeps and I'm convinced that the recent increases in auto-immune diseases are related to our war on the germ. We seem to forget that micro-organisms basically run our bodies and that most of them are harmless or very useful - particularly in the digestive system - helping to break down soluble fibre and make nutrients more absorbable etc. Apart from cheese and the good old lactobacillus acidophalus yogurt our supermarkets seem to be freakishly microbe free - food keeps longer that way. But traditional cuisines are full of lacto-fermented pickles, drinks and all kinds of other cultured foods. Fermented food is easy to make and not particularly time consuming. Here are some fascinating blog posts on fermenting food:
Fermented foods
Fermented food: benefits of lactic acid fermentation
Fermented food for beginners
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