boolar

the first batch of sauerkimkrautchee was unearthed this past saturday, much to the delight of our senses of smell and taste. feel was happy, too, as the crunch was just right!

you might have known that the first portland farmer’s market of the season (park blocks psu, my friends) was the second saturday gone. the deutchess and i were in attendance and acquired some of the necessaries for a kraut making lesson.

as we prepared our fermented buckwheat crepes filled with orange-yolked champoeg eggs (people’s food co-op), chevre, maitake mushrooms, shallots, and a medley of fresh and dried herbs (it was my birthday breakfast!), there was much chopping of vegetables and toasting of seeds and salting of cabbage and exerting of brute force upon all of these elements to stimulate the biological process of fermentation. we provided favorable conditions (a salty anerobic environment in a crock on our kitchen counters under the cover of a plate and the weight of a gallon jug of water) for those bacteria naturally present on our mustard seed farm heads of cabbage to thrive and turn our veggies into delicious digestive aids.

by god, did we ever. the deutchess cherried her brassicas out with burdock (look it up if you don’t already know the many benefits to eating this root which goes in japanese by gobo) garlic, onion and caraway seeds. my red and green cabbage blend produced a ruby grapefruit colored brine filled with carrots, burdock, onions, garlic, kale, and yellow curry spices (fresh roasted and ground by myself), which all melded fabulously. you’ll have to take my word for it, as it’s well on its way to disappearing forever.

thankfully, i’ve immortalized it here in writing.

the favored way to enjoy kraut this week was to heat a wok, add some oil and a cooked blend of sprouted millet, buckwheat, and quinoa, stir-fry it fried-rice style, with eggs, garlic, peas, shallots and the two-year unpastuerized soy sauce i splurged on as a birthday present to myself. turn off the heat, add as much kraut (with brine) as you please, and devour. our parrot friend, who currently goes by Burdock, is as thankful for this repast as we are.

p.s. that’s my first green curry paste of the spring right there next to the kraut. the taste of our salmon curry the other night reminded me of the maddocks short stay with us last summer. i miss them, i do.

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