Lots of cultures prize ferments for their flavor and health value. It's kefir in the Caucauses. It's Kimchi in Korea. It's yogurt in Greece.
It's a pretty easy process, and it's great for gut health. In a healthy human body, bacteria outnumber DNA-carrying cells 10 to 1, and they're genuinely needed for healthy digestive function. There are suggestions that getting more live cultures from fermented foods can help with IBS, lactose and gluten intolerance, and yeast infections. I bought kefir grains online, but that's another story.
The day before Ryan left, to keep myself busy, I put together 5 different ferments in Fido jars: spicy pickled green beans, saeurkraut, Asian slaw, pickled limes, and beet kvass.
The green beans were terrible. They had the texture of raw beans and were much too spicy. I threw those out. Kvass is this weird, Eastern European beet drink. It's mashed beets, oranges, spices, water, and salt. After 3-4 weeks, I strained it, and the resulting red liquid is kvass. This is what the rest looked like:
The salt ended up being the problem. It was pretty terrible, but I choked it down for the sake of health. It was a little bit sweet, but mostly salty. Katz said that the taste grows on you, but I don't particularly want to let it. However, the recipe makes two batches. You just add water and let it ferment again. We shall see if the taste has grown on me by the time the next batch matures.
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