Kimchi, kefir, sauerkraut and more! Fermented foods in Seattle

If you love the kick of kimchi, the tang of sauerkraut or the tartness of a sour pickle, you might want to consider learning how to make fermented foods at home. In addition to their pungent and particular deliciousness, they're also considered by many to be a very healthy kind of food.

Beloved bearded health guru Dr. Andrew Weil wrote:

The friendly lactobacilli created in the fermenting process by which cabbage is transformed into sauerkraut aid digestion, increase vitamin levels, produce a variety of beneficial enzymes and promote the growth of healthy flora throughout the digestive tract...

Many peoples in the world, including Germans, Japanese and Chinese, consider it important to include fermented foods in their diets. Natural pickles, Korean Kimchi, tempeh and miso (made from soy) as well as high quality yogurt are all sources of the friendly cultures found in sauerkraut. Unfortunately, most of today's commercially available sauerkraut is pasteurized and "dead" - that is, it lacks the beneficial bacterial cultures that make it so good for us. Instead, all you get is a lot of salt. To get the health benefits, look for fresh sauerkraut in the refrigerated sections of natural food stores and in barrels in delicatessens that still make their own. Or, even better, make it yourself - it's not that difficult.

Click here for a slideshow of a local fermenting classSo why not do what the doctor suggested? Here are some ways to learn to make it yourself.

Local fermenting resources

• Check out my friend and preserving blogger Brook Hurst Stephens' instructions for making New York-style sour dill pickles on her site Learn to Preseve.
• Sign up for local fermenting teacher Favero Greenforest's newsletter to learn when he'll be scheduling his next series of fermenting workshops. They'll also be added to the below calendar when I see them listed.
• In 2010, I took a visit to, as she calls it, the "Land of Fermentia" with Master Food Preserver and all-around fermenting booster Elizabeth Tomicki. You can see the album of my class here and read about the class here. With the recent closing of Goods for the Planet and their teaching space, she's looking for a new spot for public classes, but in the meantime, you can schedule private fermenting classes. 
• Local fermented food producer Firefly Kitchens is starting to offer classes (first one is scheduled for January 28 - see the calendar below). Sign up for their newsletter for updates as new dates are added. You can also volunteer with them, and be rewarded with some hands-on instruction and fermented food to take home. 

Fermenting events