Today's Fermentation Demo: Program and Notes

I'm doing a fermentation demo and talk today at the Kitchen at Boston Public Market!

If the technology gods are willing, it will be live-streamed on the Real Food Fermentation Facebook page.

I'll be demoing the following recipes, and I'll have samples available:

- Sauerkraut
- Beet Kvass
- Tepache

And if there's time, I'll also demo:

- Preserved Lemons

I've blogged about Sauerkraut, Beet Kvass, and Preserved Lemons before, here.

Tepache is new to this blog, and is a sneak-preview of a recipe from Ferment Your Drinks, my upcoming new book with co-author Raquel Guajardo. When it's officially available, you'll hear lots more about it!

Tepache is a pineapple wine from Mexico. It has low alcohol--maybe a couple of percent--significantly less than beer. This is partly because of its short ferment time (typically less than a week), and partly because it's a wild ferment, so in addition to the yeasts that convert sugar to alcohol, it picks up some bacteria that convert sugar and alcohol to acids.

This means that it is sour. It's great on its own, or as an ingredient in a cocktail of whatever sort.

There are many other nice things about tepache, besides how delicious it is. One is that it allows you to use a portion of the pineapple (the skin) that you would normally just compost or toss. Another is that if you mess up the recipe and let it ferment for too long, you wind up with some nice pineapple vinegar. Hard to go wrong!

Tepache

Ingredients:

- the outer husk and core of one pineapple (the part you can't eat) (I highly recommend this tool!)

- one cup of sugar, ideally piloncillo/panela/jaggery/rapadura/raw sugar/brown sugar

- mixed spices: "pickling spices" will do nicely; make sure they contain no preservatives

- filtered water

Equpiment:

- 2-quart mason jar, with metal ring

- unbleached basket-type coffee filter, or unbleached paper towel, or clean cloth towel

Procedure:

In a 2-quart mason jar, dissolve the sugar in a pint of warm water (body temperature or a little cooler).

Cut the pineapple husk and core into chunks roughly 1 inch on a side. Add it to the jar, along with the spices.

Fill with (room temperature) water to 2 inches below the top.

Place filter or towel over the top of the jar, and secure with ring.

Wait 3 or 5 days, or until foamy and aromatic.

Strain

Drink chilled, or over ice!

Variation:

If you want more alcohol and fizz, try putting a tightly-sealing lid on once it starts foaming, then leave it for up to a week.