{"id":11025,"date":"2015-10-02T12:10:40","date_gmt":"2015-10-02T16:10:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/?p=11025"},"modified":"2015-10-02T12:10:40","modified_gmt":"2015-10-02T16:10:40","slug":"lively-ferments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/lively-ferments\/","title":{"rendered":"Lively Ferments"},"content":{"rendered":"

October 2015 | view this story as a .pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

Naturally fermented food is an age-old preservation tradition the world over. So how did it become such a hot trend? Join the culture club.<\/span><\/h3>\n

Naturally fermented food is an age-old preservation tradition the world over. So how did it become such a hot trend? Join the culture club.<\/span><\/p>\n

By Claire Z. Cramer<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"OCT15-Hungry-Eye\"We\u2019re sitting in Urban Farm Fermentory<\/strong>\u2019s cavernous tasting room at the warehouse headquarters on Anderson Street in Portland\u2019s industrial-hip epicenter: East Bayside. The floor is cement; the bar is made of salvaged pallet lumber (speaking of trends). There are two rows of taps in front of us, none of them beer. These are ciders, meads, and kombuchas.<\/p>\n

Kombucha is a naturally fermented beverage containing \u201cgood\u201d bacteria that are beneficial to human digestion; it\u2019s slightly fizzy and contains 1.5% alcohol by volume. UFF is among the very few kombucha producers that do not pasteurize (heat) the beverage, which kills the alcohol and the live ferment. UFF\u2019s Kombucha is \u201cprobiotic,\u201d and probiotic food and drink is cutting-edge healthy, whereas pasteurized, mass-market kombucha is little more than a feel-good soft drink.<\/span><\/p>\n

We sign on for flights\u2013\u201cfour picks for $3\u201d\u2013and choose an assortment of flavored kombuchas and ciders, which are also fermented and a bit higher in alcohol\u2013more like 6.5%. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe flavors are all from locally grown or foraged things,\u201d says bartender Lilia Garcelon. \u201cSo there can be flavor variations from batch to batch.\u201d She delivers paddle boards with four small jars of colorful liquid nested in each. A sip of ginger kombucha is bright and refreshing. Mountain mint is subtle and earthy rather than mouthwash-flavored. Blueberry tastes of real Maine berries, and, like all of UFF\u2019s offerings, it\u2019s noticeably un-sugary. A sip of roasted tomato kombucha is improbably savory and tasty, but our next selection is not. Seaweed cider is about as close as you can get to accidentally swallowing seawater at the beach. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe distribute as far as Massachusetts and Vermont,\u201d says operations manager Luke Finnemore. Locally, find UFF\u2019s beverages at Whole Foods, Aurora Provisions, and the Rosemont markets. Or pick up a growler right at the Fermentory, where you can request your own flavor mix. \u201cBlueberry-ginger is big,\u201d says Garcelon. <\/span><\/p>\n

Even On the Half-Shell<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

At Eventide Oyster <\/strong>on Middle Street, where\u00a0 <\/span>the servers are all good-looking and the food is way above average, the menu is shot through with Asian influences\u2013there\u2019s dashi<\/em> chowder, fried mussels nam prik<\/em>, and Thai fried chicken to name a few. Kimchi\u2013once known as a fiery pickled cabbage condiment\u00a0 <\/span>for Korean food\u2013is made here for use as a garnish and as a side dish. Half-inch ribbons of green cabbage, carrot matchsticks, and shredded onion are \u201csalted down, then rinsed and drained,\u201d says a prep cook who is garnishing whole lobster tails in their shells behind the counter. \u201cThen it\u2019s seasoned with Korean chili paste, ginger, and a few other things, and fermented for a few days.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Three feet away, a tall, willowy woman with a ponytail is serenely shucking oysters. \u201cThey put a bit of shrimp paste in the kimchi, too,\u201d she says. <\/span><\/p>\n

This is spicy stuff in the range of cayenne heat, with a sour tang that comes from fermentation rather than vinegar, and one heck of an aftertaste.<\/span><\/p>\n

You can have kimchi ice on your oysters here. It looks like a little cup of coral-colored sorbet, but it has more zing and nuance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kimchi is all over town\u2013in the Japanese creations at Pai Men Miyake<\/strong>, even on the \u201cSeoul Dog\u201d hotdog at the Blue Rooster<\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Fermenting vs. Pickling<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Like sauerkraut, kimchi is lacto-fermented It\u2019s made in a simple, traditional fermentation process that involves no vinegar or sugar. Instead, starches and sugars in the vegetables are converted into lactic acid through the fermenting process. Lactic acid is a natural preservative that prevents rotting, which\u00a0 <\/span>is why kraut and salt-brined pickles last so long. Modern food processing introduced vinegar as a pickling\/preservative, which is fine but lacks the digestive benefit and adds no healthy \u201cflora\u201d to your intestinal tract.<\/span><\/p>\n

Miso is another probiotic food created through the lacto-fermenting of grains and soybeans. The Rosemont<\/strong> markets\u2013a good source of assorted fresh fermented food and drink\u2013carry a fresh, unpasteurized light miso made in Canada in the fridge case. The container has a recipe on the side for a salad dressing made with miso. No longer confined to the hot cup of broth that precedes a sushi meal, miso is widely used in or on roasted meats, sauces, noodles, and other dishes now. <\/span><\/p>\n

Farm Fresh Ferment<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Live, fermented, digestion-friendly foods are big business at the farmers\u2019 market in Deering Oaks on Saturdays. <\/span><\/p>\n

Thirty Acre Farm<\/strong> has a shelf of jars\u2013 \u201cFerments\u2013$7\/$12,\u201d reads a handwritten sign. They\u2019ve got sauerkraut, jalapeno-spiked kraut, and bright red \u201cruby kraut.\u201d There are jars of fermented carrots and bottles of fermented hot sauce.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span>Dairy farmers have displays of unpasteurized, old-fashioned yogurt\u2013it\u2019s full-fat, rich, and delicious, with cream on top. At Swallowtail Farm<\/strong>\u2019s stand, you can choose fresh classic style, Greek-style, or fruit-flavored cow\u2019s-milk yogurt sold in glass jars. There is even kefir, a probiotic dairy drink that looks like milk but is said to be more refreshing. And apparently quite popular. The kefir sells briskly at Swallowtail\u2019s busy stand. \u201cIt\u2019s a really good drink,\u201d says owner Sean Pignatello, who is\u00a0 <\/span>also a cheesemaker.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYep, Irish\/Italian,\u201d he says of his name. Is this why he was drawn to making cheese? \u201cIt\u2019s not why, but it\u2019s why I\u2019m good at it!\u201d Suffice it to say, if you try his yogurt and ricotta salata, a second-place winner in a national cheese competition, you\u2019ll buy some.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nearby, David Buchanan is making fruit smoothies at the Old Ocean House Farm <\/strong>stand. He\u2019s whirring up his own fresh berries with a bit of yogurt from Balfour Farms in Pittsfield. Buchanan is the author of Taste, Memory<\/em>, about the value of heirloom fruits and vegetables. He uses apples from his Pownal orchard to make dry ciders he sells under the Portersfield label. \u201cI ferment the fruit about six months,\u201d he says. The Anconia (berries and apples) flavored cider is not a dessert- wine novelty. \u201cIt\u2019s dry and astringent\u2013drink it like you would a ros\u00e9.\u201d He\u2019s right\u2013this cider, tinted pale pink from the berries, is delicious and subtle.<\/span><\/p>\n

Washington County Wisdom<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know how, but it\u2019s taken off,\u201d says Rachel Bell of Tide Mill Creamery<\/strong>. She\u2019s talking about kefir. \u201cI gave it a try seven years ago, and I loved<\/em> it. It\u2019s much more like yogurt than milk in taste\u2013effervescent, with a fizzy tang.\u201d Bell and her husband Nate Horton operate Tide Mill Creamery on a large, extended-family farm in Edmund, a hamlet between Machias and Calais.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe make cheese and yogurt here; we have cows and goats. We raise pigs and sell whey-fed pork. When we started producing kefir, we wanted to do it the traditional way. You put culture into cow\u2019s milk, and we use nice glass bottles. Digestive benefit? Oh, yeah, way more than yogurt.\u201d She says kefir actually contributes positive microbes that can stay in your digestive system. \u201cMy dad had terrible stomach problems and took medication for years. Now he feels great and just drinks kefir every week; it seems to have cured it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Tide Mill also produces and distributes sauerkraut, kimchi, yogurt, and their Little Bloom camembert-style cow\/goat cheese statewide. Find it at the Rosemonts and Portland Food Coop<\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n

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October 2015
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